Strauss-Kahn: Tristane Banon wept as she spoke to 300 campaigners in front of the Paris Courthouse,

Enlarge 

Frail and vulnerable: French writer Tristane Banon breaks down as she addresses protestors outside a Paris courthouse. The protest urged the judiciary to take sexual assault cases more seriously

A French journalist who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her broke down in front of crowds of protestors, confessing she is afraid of coming face-to-face with her alleged attacker.

Tristane Banon wept as she spoke to 300 campaigners in front of the Paris Courthouse, during a protest urging French authorities to take reports of sexual assaults more seriously. 

In a stark contrast to her previous television appearance Miss Banon seemed frail as she addressed protestors, crying throughout her speech.

She told crowds she was 'afraid of coming face to face with him', but said it would be reassuring to get the experience over with.

Although the protests yesterday were not centred on Strauss-Kahn Miss Banon’s speech took centre stage as she told crowds her experience has highlighted ‘very big problems’ with the French judicial system.

 

It emerged the writer will come face-to-face with her alleged attacker as soon as next week in a confrontation procedure which under French law is part of a preliminary police inquiry into Miss Banon's complaint.

The protest comes as Strauss-Kahn tries to recover from a New York sex scandal that derailed his IMF career and wrecked his chances of running for French president next year.  

Rallying: Unlike the composure she showed at many other public appearances, Miss Banon was very emotional and admitted to being 'afraid' of meeting her alleged attacker, Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Brave face: Miss Banon told the assembled protestors that her experience had highlighted bureaucratic difficulties between French authorities and potential rape victims

Statute of limitations: Banon has accused Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her in 2003. While rape has a 10-year statute of limitations in France, the lesser charge of sexual assault only has three years

The court said a meeting would be held with Strauss-Kahn and his accuser Miss Banon present, so investigators could compare their versions of an incident in a Paris apartment in 2003, when she says he tried to rape her. 

French daily newspaper Le Parisien has reported the meeting could be as soon as next week. 

Strauss-Kahn, 62, returned home to France this month and apologised in a television interview for the 'moral error' of his nine-minute sexual encounter with a New York hotel maid that triggered his arrest and a three-month U.S. legal battle. 

    

Looming confrontation: Under French law, women in rape or sexual assault cases must first meet thair alleged attacker in court before the case can proceed 

          

The U.S. charges were dropped due to doubts about the maid's credibility.

However, Strauss-Kahn's efforts to turn the page have been hampered by accusations from Miss Banon, a journalist and writer 30 years his junior, that he tried to force himself on her when she went to interview him for a book she was researching.               

Denials: Dominique Strauss-Kahn has denied he raped Miss Banon, admitting instead that he tried to kiss her

As a Paris prosecutor weighs up whether or not to escalate the current probe into a full-scale judicial investigation, Miss Banon, 32, has said repeatedly that she wants to confront Strauss-Kahn face-to-face over the incident.

Legal sources expect the prosecutor to drop the case for a lack of evidence so long after the event, in a potential boon to Strauss-Kahn who lamented in the September 18 TV interview that he had lost everything because of the New York scandal. 

The statute of limitations for attempted rape in France is 10 years, but for sexual assault it is just three years.     

Miss Banon has told French media that Strauss-Kahn grabbed her during the interview and tried to remove her clothes, leading to a struggle. She has said she would appeal a decision to downgrade her complaint.      

According to police sources, Strauss-Kahn has said he tried to kiss Miss Banon but denies sexual assault. He called her accusations imaginary and slanderous in his TV appearance.        

Opinion polls show most French people want Strauss-Kahn to stay out of politics, and one survey found one respondent in three thought his TV apology did nothing to improve his image. 

Strauss-Kahn also faces a civil case in New York over the incident at the Manhattan Sofitel.