Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

The former Managing Director of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was on Thursday asked to post $1 million as bail money and $5 million as bond if he wished to leave Brooklyn's infamous Rikers Island prison, where he is being held on charges of assault on a hotel maid.

Even as Judge Michael Obus granted Mr. Strauss-Kahn's second bail bid, a grand jury indicted him on all charges brought against him by the 32-year-old Guinea-born immigrant widow, who alleges a naked Mr. Strauss-Kahn chased her down from his suite bathroom and then attempted to rape her.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn was expected to leave Rikers Island even as his wife, French television presenter Anne Sinclair, was said to be scrambling to secure a rented apartment in Manhattan where he could reside, under armed guard as per Mr. Justice Obus' ruling.

Under the restricted conditions of his bail, Mr. Strauss-Kahn is also required to pay the $200,000-a-month fee for the armed guards, CNN reported. Further Mr. Strauss-Kahn has been ordered to wear an electronic ankle monitor and may leave his apartment only to go to court, a doctor's clinic, a house of worship and or to meet his lawyers, said reports.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn's attorney William Taylor said: “Frankly, I was going to ask the court to release on a cash bail with no conditions, but it seems to me that under the circumstances, in light of the people's strong objection, at this point we have made the decision to accept these most onerous conditions because his need to be released from custody is so extreme and frankly his right to it is so great.”

However, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney John Mcconnell decried the decision. “The defendant in this case has shown a propensity for impulsive criminal conduct. There is no right to bail. There is no right to be released,” he said.

From The Hindu

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund jailed over allegations of sexual assault on a New York hotel maid, has quit his official role four days after the incident.

The IMF said Mr. Strauss-Kahn had on Wednesday informed its Executive Board of his resignation. The Fund also announced John Lipsky as acting Managing Director.

In his letter of resignation to the Board, Mr. Strauss-Kahn said he wanted to “devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence”. He said it was with “infinite sadness” that he had decided to resign. His thoughts were with his family and colleagues at the Fund with whom he “accomplished such great things over the last three years and more”, he said.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn is being held in isolation at the notorious Rikers Island prison in New York and, according to an AP report, is on suicide watch.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Shapiro, the lawyer of the maid who has alleged Mr. Strauss-Kahn assaulted her, said his client had been unable to resume her duties given the media attention. He also denied it had been consensual sex between Mr. Strauss-Kahn and his client, an argument Mr. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers were said to be considering. “There is no question this was not consensual — she was assaulted and she had to escape from him, which is why when she finally got out of the room, she reported it to security immediately,” said Mr. Shapiro.

The New York Times reported that Mr. Strauss-Kahn would on Thursday seek a renewed bail hearing and would be “willing to be confined to a location in Manhattan, wear an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his movements and post $1 million bail in cash”.