EUROPE– Senior managers at a luxury hotel group have appeared in court faced with charges over their alleged involvement in a prostitution ring.
René Kojfer, the former public relations officer of the Lille Carlton, was the first person to be charged in a case which has gripped France.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former boss of the International Monetary Fund and once tipped as a president of France, is on trial charged with aggravated pimping. He denies the charges, and is expected to tell the court that he had sexual relations with women at parties organised by friends, but that he did not realise the women were prostitutes who had been paid for their participation.
Lille magistrates suspect René Kojfer, former PR manager at the Lille Carlton, of having put prostitutes in contact with businessmen from the Pas de Calais region. They claim they were acquainted with Mr Strauss-Kahn.
François Henrion, manager of the Hotel de Tours, and the director of the Carlton and owner Hervé Franchois are also in the dock. Both are accused of having rented rooms to prostitutes for personal benefit.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
