New York: International Monetary Fund (IMF) head’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn will remain jailed at least until his next court hearing for attempted rape and other charges, a judge said Monday.
A tired and grim-looking IMF head appeared before the Manhattan judge to face charges of attempted rape, sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. The top count is punishable by five to 25 years in prison.
Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually harassing a maid who went in to clean his penthouse suite Saturday at a luxury hotel near Times Square. Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman said that his client denies any wrongdoing.
The charges stunned the global financial world and upended French presidential politics. A member of France’s Socialist party, Strauss-Kahn was widely considered the strongest potential challenger next year to President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose political fortunes have been fading.
Manhattan prosecutors asked the judge to hold Strauss-Kahn without bail, saying his position as IMF head had taken him out of the country previously and that the IMF leader was wealthy and doesn’t live in New York.
“He has almost no incentive to stay in this country and every incentive to leave,” Assistant District Attorney John A. McConnell said. “If he went to France, we would have no legal mechanism to guarantee his return to this country.”
Defense attorneys had suggested bail be set at $1 million and promised the IMF managing director would remain in New York City.
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