DSK: the saga continues

"DSK back" isLibération's headline. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, was freed on July 1 after doubts came to light over the testimony of the woman who accused him of sexual assault in New York. He is now at the centre of renewed political speculation in France. Even though charges against Strauss-Kahn have not been dismissed, this development "is another upset for the Socialist Party primary", as the deadline for nominations to choose a presidential candidate for 2012 is July 13. There's been much talk of Strauss-Kahn running if he is found innocent, but for now, says Libération, "his team doesn't even want to think about it. They say that judicial procedure must be followed 'all the way'".

While they wait, French commentators are focusing their attention on the American judicial system. Le Mondecastigates a "shocking" system in which "the prosecutor is elected, and gambles his re-election on results", criticising the way that "the American media-justice machine has run away with itself, at a time when it most needed to prove its slowness and prudence". By contrast, Libérationpraises the speed of the American system: "Once part of the accusation had collapsed, the US courts drew their conclusions with astonishing and admirable swiftness. There is a lesson here: that though justice systems are by nature fallible, they prove themselves by their capacity to question and to admit when they are wrong."