JUSTICE: What might Dominique Strauss-Kahn under U.S. law?

The arrest and prosecution of sexual assault, attempted rape and kidnapping of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday by the prosecutor of New York, raises several legal issues relating to sexual offenses. Decryption.

What's next court waiting DSK?

The IMF chief should be referred on Sunday at 19 pm (Paris time) before a U.S. judge in New York, with whom he will have the opportunity to speak. Former socialist minister denies all the charges alleged against him and will plead not guilty, told AFP his Washington lawyer, William Taylor. The magistrate will then decide on the release on bail of former minister or otherwise detained."In general, with regard to foreign nationals, who are by definition the risk to flee the United States to their country, mostly in cases of this magnitude, those accused remain in jail, at least for the time the judge to initiate the procedure, "says Emmanuel Saint-Martin, FRANCE 24's correspondent in New York. If the judge finds that the director will not escape justice, then it will be released on bail or without bail, on condition that he report at trial.

The head of the IMF has it a privilege?

"Theoretically, DSK is protected by an immunity for acts committed as part of his official duties in accordance with the operation of major international institutions.Remains whether it applied at the time of the alleged assault, "said Stanislas de Saint Hippolyte, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Washington. Indeed, the IMF Articles of Agreement (Article IX), showing that its officials" are not prosecuted for acts performed by them in exercising their official duties, "however, the Fund may decide to waive this immunity after meeting management.

If the allegations are true, what are the penalties incurred by Dominique Strauss-Kahn?

The fate of DSK depends on the nature of the crime by holding the "District Attorney" (floor New York).Charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement and one of attempted rape, the IMF chief "risk if convicted one year to twenty-five years in prison, according to the prosecutor's decision", said Stanislas de Saint Hippolyte.

Four scenarios could apply to Dominique Strauss-Kahn: sexual intercourse without consent of the victim. "This is the crime the less severely punished, ie one year in prison," said Stanislas de Saint Hippolyte. The second case involves sexual abuse. It may be a crime as a crime, punishable by up to fifteen years imprisonment. The third qualifier is rape, punishable by a sentence of twenty-five years in prison.Finally, any act of rape with "deviant", such as the practice of oral sex, is punishable by twenty-five years' imprisonment maximum.

BAHRAIN: Two Shiite opposition parties threatened to dissolve

The Department of Justice and Islamic Affairs of Bahrain has launched a lawsuit to dissolve the two parties of the Shiite opposition, including the powerful Al-Wefaq, a month after the end of the protest in the kingdom, reported Thursday the official agency BNA.

The lawsuit relates to "Islamic Action Association and Al-Wefaq," the agency said, accusing the two Shia groups have "seriously violated the rules of the Constitution and the laws and have been activities that have affected the civil peace and national unity. "

These two associations have also "encouraged institutions to non-compliance," the agency said, quoting a ministry statement.

Al-Wefaq was the main opposition group in parliament, where it controlled 18 of 40 seats. It was during the events of mid-February to mid-March, called for political reforms to transform Bahrain into a genuine constitutional monarchy where the Prime Minister is the head of the parliamentary majority.

The Islamic Action Association has also joined the protest, led mainly by Shiites, the majority among the local population against the Sunni dynasty of the Al-Khalifa.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Firing missiles on Gbagbo's residence, his camp denounces assassination attempt

The residence of Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan was partially destroyed Sunday by missiles fired from helicopters UNOCI and the French Licorne force, said a spokesman for the outgoing president of Ivory Coast. The helicopters fired on the tanks inside the presidential palace and outside the residence. He did not say if Laurent Gbagbo was on site at the time of the attack.

"French helicopters and the UN continued to fire on the residence of President Gbagbo, who is partially destroyed," said Reuters spokesman said, Ahoua Don Mello."There is a thick smoke but we have no other details on the damage caused. "

A resident of Cocody said he saw "a French helicopter fire four missiles in the area of ​​the residence shortly before 17:00 (GMT). A resident of the neighborhood Youpougon (West Shelf separated by the lagoon) has reported seeing "three Helicopters fire on the presidency.""For several minutes, black smoke rises into the sky towards the palace," he added.

A Reuters correspondent on the French military base of Port-Bouet, near the airport, fifteen kilometers from the residence of Gbagbo said he heard loud explosions echoed from the combat zone.He said that four helicopters, two of UNOCI and two of the Force Licorne, "led the attacks.

Gbagbo's camp talking about an assassination attempt, invokes UNOCI's mandate

France has "no other purpose" than to "assassinate" the outgoing president, Laurent Gbagbo, has responded to AFP Ahoua Don Mello, denouncing the shooting of the French Licorne force "on the residence of the Chief State ".

"France was looking for excuses to réattaquer, she has gathered," he said, referring in particular to an attack Saturday on the headquarters of Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo, whose camp has denied being responsible.

"We take the operation to neutralize the heavy weapons wherever they are. UNOCI and Licorne have begun to target targets in several places, especially near the presidential palace and near the presidential residence," replied the spokesman of UNOCI, Hamadoun Toure. "Over the past three or four days, there was a use of heavy weapons against civilians and peacekeepers. The firing against the head of UNOCI continued, hence the need to react to protect civilians in accordance with our mandate, "he added.

The shootings have targeted as "camps where recognition exercises have identified heavy weapons," according to Mr Touré.

LIBYA: Several loud explosions heard in Tripoli

Firing of the air defense and several loud bangs were heard Thursday morning in Tripoli, the sixth day of the offensive of the international coalition, according to an AFP journalist.

The DCA went into action at 4:30 GMT and several loud explosions resounded then, according to an AFP journalist who was unable to identify the origin of the blasts.

The coalition had conducted air raids on Wednesday night in Tripoli.Of flak and fighter aircraft noise had been heard above the city, according to AFP journalists.

By early evening, a loud explosion occurred on a basis of the Libyan army in the region Tajoura, 32 km east of Tripoli, witnesses said AFP.

These witnesses saw flames rising over the military base after the explosion.

The Libyan news agency Jana said last year that the international coalition raids on the eastern outskirts of Tripoli on Wednesday night had "targeted a residential area," making a "significant number of civilian deaths".

ALGERIA: After Tunisia and Egypt, the revolt of wind can blow on Algeria?

Several Algerian cities could be drama, February 12, events "for democratic change." In any case, the meaning of the appeal launched by an unprecedented coalition of political parties and civil society associations.

For the opponent Fodil Boumal, member of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy and host of the Facebook Res Publica II, "the goal is the break, leaving the government and the establishment of genuine democracy. " Objective has already struck the ban including brandished by the municipality in Algiers.The rally, however, must take place on May 1 instead of the center of the city.

A similar event has been held in Algiers in January at the invitation of an opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (RCD). Offset by a large police presence, protesters had not yet made not far away. Surrounded by police, 300 people were left stranded at the party headquarters.The opposition had complained about forty injured in the clashes that followed as authorities were seven police officers injured.

A call that leaves some skeptical observers

Hafidh Daamache, deputy editor of the newspaper El-Khabar Arabic expression, is skeptical about the success of a new event, banned in the capital. "Here, people think for themselves, their housing, their jobs." Northern residents more mobilized - particularly the people of Kabylie - fail to enter the capital, he says. "The place from May 1 can be locked with 300 policemen. And the road to Algiers entries are few and easy to hang.On the east entrance, there are at least five dams. "

Organizers concede: "If we compare with Tunisia and Egypt, it will not Tahrir Square," says in a burst of laughter Abdelmoumen Khelil, Secretary General of the Algerian League of Human Rights.

Optimistic, yet it ensures that the dynamics of the opposition is changing. "The Coordination brings together people who are not accustomed to talk together," says Fodil Boumal."The event is already a success, having attracted a mobilization, the vibrancy of public debate, is already a victory," added Khelil Abdelmoumen.

Algeria can it be carried away by the momentum of Tunisia?

In a country where the opposition is very divided and difficult to mobilize, the very fact that different movements together like a step forward. Journalist Nicole Chevillard, Algeria specialist and editor of the journal International Risk, remains doubtful. She notes that already, the organizing movement splits. "There are so divisive. The power to manipulate public opinion by using false pretenses and avatars for years.This explains the distrust of the Algerians, "she says.

Although the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings have marked the minds of activists, all agree, however, assert that the Algerian situation is too different to be compared. "In Algeria, the issue is not so much that people can not speak, but nobody listens," explains Nicole Chevillard.

She remains surprised by the multiplication of sacrifices that followed the suicide by fire of Mohammed Bouazizi Tunisia. "It is not at all part of local culture, or Arabic also!" She says.Sign of discouragement which would have reached its climax, these acts of desperation he could agree with those who ensures that Algeria is living a real change? "At the stage where is Algeria, it will take time, says Khelil Abdelmoumen. But people would like that to change."

INTERNET: How Ben Ali was trying to identify users of Facebook

"We had never encountered a security problem of scale that took place in Tunisia." Facebook has detailed this weekend, he led the battle to counter attempts by the regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to retrieve the identifiers of users of the famous Tunisian social network during the unrest that led to the leakage the former president. A communication operation that gives, of course, the handsome star at the role of Web 2.0, but also casts a harsh light on how the authority was trying to control access to the Net.

In an interview on Monday, the American cultural monthly "The Atlantic", Joe Sullivan, the head of security within Facebook, talks about the incident.It all began during the holiday season, says he. Many users complain Tunisian then seeing their Facebook account deleted.

Tunisian Internet by boiling following the immolation of young Mohamed Bouazizi, Sidi Bouzid, December 17, fear of censorship. At first, Facebook can not identify the problem.

Apolitical posture

Ultimately, it will take about ten days the team of Joe Sullivan to understand what's happening in the country. "The main service provider (ISP) [Tunisia] had established an unprecedented system for recovering logins and passwords for Tunisians registered on Facebook," said one.The social network accuses unnamed Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) to have engaged the pleasure of hacker crime.

The organization, under the Ministry of Telecommunications, was injected on the login page to Facebook a cookie to save the email address and password that users wrote in logging.

Malicious code online

To circumvent the problem, Facebook has implemented a secure login page (one address "https" instead of "http") for all Tunisians. The user who wanted access to their account should also confirm his identity by answering a security question.Two steps, by Joe Sullivan, were sufficient to prevent the regime of Ben Ali can delete or edit their Facebook accounts.

The firm of Mark Zuckerberg has therefore been drawn into a major political event. "We decided to treat this as a mere technical problem and keep an apolitical stance," said Ted Sullivan, however. That is why the American group waited until the former president Ben Ali stepped down to reveal the story.

This episode confirms, in any event, the tight control on the Net Tunisian denounced for months by both Tunisian and by international organizations to defend freedom of expression.In July 2010, the Internet and Global Voices was moved to an attempt by authorities to retrieve the identifiers of the subscribers to Gmail, Google's e-mail.

January 3, malicious code intended to allow Tunisian government to control access to Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Facebook have even been published on the Internet.

ALGERIA: Algiers Violent clashes outside the headquarters of the RCD

The streets of Algiers were the scene of violent clashes on Saturday between riot police and protesters from defying the authority to call for an opposition party.

Outside the headquarters of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), some 300 people including recovered blocked by hundreds of policemen. According to Said Saadi, leader of the RCD, 42 of them were injured and transferred to city hospitals. Among them would be Amazouz Othman, the parliamentary leader of the RCD. Official sources have reported wounded seven policemen, including two in serious condition.The independent newspaper El Watan also reported that a dozen arrests were made.

The newspaper always, clashes also erupted on the outskirts of Algiers between security forces and protesters who tried to reach the capital. AFP reports that the local leader of the RCD, Reda Boudraa was beaten with sticks to Bejaia, 260 km east of the capital. The head was bleeding, he was evacuated by ambulance.

The police, present en masse in the Algerian capital, trying to prevent a planned rally by the RCD to demand democratization."The police prevented the protesters to meet, shows Tazir Ahmed, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Algiers. Any group of people over 10 is dispersed."

An impressive police presence was deployed in the early hours of the day, crisscrossing the entire town. "The atmosphere is tense currently in Algiers," said Faisal Métaoui by phone, a political reporter for the independent daily El Watan. " "There are police everywhere, the main entrances of the city are blocked, rail traffic is stopped, the buses are controlled.Some are forced to turn back, mainly those from Kabylie [region traditionally opposed the regime of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ed], "he says.

"Historical Impasse"

RCD called for the release of political prisoners, lifting the state of emergency in force since 1992, respect for individual and collective freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the dissolution of elected assemblies, "the source of all the political instability since they were imposed by electoral fraud, according to Said Saadi. It is a catchword very consensual, "says the leader of the RCD.

"We're not just in a state of political crisis, we are in a historical dead end, says the latter.There is no longer any bridge between the authorities and society.If we fail to initiate a process towards a peaceful transition, violence will be much more devastating in Algeria than it was in Tunisia. "

Friday, local authorities have, meanwhile, called on residents of Algiers to ignore calls to the event scheduled for Saturday before the Parliament at 11am.

"He asked citizens to exercise wisdom and vigilance, and not respond to any provocation intended to undermine their peace, their peace and their serenity," said a statement from the prefecture Algiers.

Demonstrations are banned in Algeria since 1992, when the state of emergency was declared.

For now, popular protest has not led to a shift of the Algerian government. "It is too early to tell whether this movement has the same consequences as that which takes place in Tunisia, said Faisal Métaoui. The Algerian police are more experienced in Tunisia concerning the riots, said the journalist. But indeed, if nothing changes, if the government does not give a little ground, things may get tougher. "

NORTH AFRICA: The immolation, an act of desperation to high political office

A father of six children, dealer on the run, was doused with petrol before lighting a lighter in the open market on Wednesday, El-Oued, Algeria. Dozens of people were quickly intervened to try to save him. The day before, a lawyer of forty years has tried to set themselves on fire outside the government headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. Monday is a contractor for 43 years Mauritania has poured a flammable liquid into his car before setting it on fire. He meant by this act, denouncing "the country's political situation and the regime."

Since the immolation, December 17, the young unemployed Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi, became the symbol of the revolution of Tunisia, a dozen people at least have replicated this gesture in the Arab world.One person died of his injuries in Algeria. "These events seem, a priori, bound to each other, tells Michael France24.com Ayari, associate researcher at the Research Institute for the Study of Arab and Muslim world (IREMAM). These countries are in any case face similar problems, such as rising prices "of basic commodities.

"The fire destroyed and regenerates"

For many observers, these sacrifices reflect the desperation of some of the Arab population. By their violence and the fact that they are held in public and not anonymous, they are also political.The immolation "contains a message for power that is: 'I protest', explained to AFP Hefny Kedra, professor of political psychology at Ain Shams University, Cairo.

"This series of sacrifices is a sign of political deadlock, an ideological vacuum, confirms Michael Ayari. It reveals that many things are not in the office of the underbody Arab world. Symbolically, the Fire destroys but also regenerates, like the phoenix rising from the ashes.These gestures can be a political regeneration: in sacrifice, we destroy what destroys us. "

An analysis shared Nacéra Sadou, clinical psychologist and consultant to the Algerian Society of psychological research, quoted by the Algerian daily El Watan. " Immolate is somehow "reclaiming the right to appear, a way to exist, to say 'I'm here,' she says. In the destruction of the relationship between inside and The outside skin is seen as the only means of expression since access to speech is impossible. "

Psycho-sociologist in Beirut, Lebanon, Raja Makki believes, too, that these desperate acts are a means "to exist"."It seems to me that people in the Arab world, is seeking a new identity, says she France24.com. People are fragmented between two models, West and East. They have many problems to exist; citizenship does not exist in the true sense of the term, diets do not protect the individual as a human being, as a citizen. It is a sentiment that has simmered in an indirect and invisible, expressed today. "

Nor religious, nor specificity Arabic

Symptom of a socio-economic, political and ideological self-immolation has, according to Michael Ayari, no religious connotation. "This is currently the social, not religious, which is dominant" in the protest movements of the Arab street, "he says.On Tuesday, the highest institution in Sunni Islam, Al-Azhar, however, stressed that Islam forbids any form of suicide. "Islam does not separate from her body to express discomfort, anger or protest," said the spokesperson of the institution, Mohamed al-Tahtawi Rifa'a, while stating that individuals who committed these acts could be "in a state of mental instability."

Should this be seen, however, specificity of the Arab world? Ayari for Michael, the answer is clearly no. Tibetan Buddhist monks, for example, have repeatedly sacrificed by fire. Russia, China, South Korea or Burma, such events have already occurred.Between 1998 and 2003, hundreds of people have also attempted suicide by immolation in north-western Iran.

If the media today identify with extreme attention to each case immolation in the Arab world because of the Tunisian revolution, it is however clear that the phenomenon is not completely unprecedented in the region. "We have witnessed in recent years all sorts of suicide beyond the traditional, Gaci said Ali, a specialist in social psychology, the Algerian daily" L'Expression ".Young people have committed suicide by self-mutilating to challenge their release lists of homes, while others were thrown overboard, preferring to drown rather than be rescued by the coastguard, "said there.

In Morocco, in 2005, a group of unemployed youth himself had organized a march "from the hiring or death" with a destination of the seat of the Prime Minister's Office, Rabat, threatening to immolate themselves.In Tunisia, a few farmers had also threatened suicide in the late 1960s to protest against the nationalization of agriculture.

In sacrificing himself in his little town of Sidi Bouzid, Mohamed Bouazizi himself has crystallized the challenges and frustrations social and economic policies in a large part of the Arab world, causing a shockwave that was certainly not imagine ...