LILLE, France (AP) -- Disgraced former International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a French court Tuesday that he was unaware that women who participated in orgies at luxury hotels in Paris and Washington D.C. were prostitutes.
The 65-year-old and 13 co-defendants are on trial in this northern French city, accused of aggravated pimping in connection with a sex ring centered on the Hotel Carlton in Lille.
In his first testimony since the trial began Feb. 2, Strauss-Kahn reaffirmed his long-standing defense that he did not know of the "prostitutional character" of the women who took part in his orgies.
Strauss-Kahn's arrival at the courthouse was disrupted by three topless protesters from the provocative group Femen, who were detained by police.
Strauss-Kahn's chances of becoming French president were ruined over an unrelated sex scandal in New York.