Strauss-Kahn Claims He Has Diplomatic Immunity, Seek Civil Suit Dismissal

We’ve reached the point in the high-stakes international game of Monopoly where Dominique Strauss-Kahn pulls out the Get Out Of Jail Free card he’s been hiding under the board. Today his lawyer moved to dismiss Nafissatou Diallo’s suit against him on the grounds that he had diplomatic immunity at the time, so he can’t be slapped with a civil suit.

Strauss-Kahn tried to claim diplomatic immunity when he was first arrested, but then quickly declared, “No, no, no, I’m not trying to use that.” (Diplomats’ home countries can still charge them or waive their immunity, so it doesn’t mean they’re free to rape and pillage in foreign lands.) Now he’s trying to use the policy even though his status as a diplomat is hazy. According to CNN, the U.S. hasn’t signed a U.N. convention that specifically grants International Monetary Fund officials immunity, but his attorneys argue that U.S. courts recognize the protections as “customary international law.”