New bail hearing set for Strauss-Kahn

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers have filed new papers asking a judge to release him on bail, offering new terms including $1m in cash and to place their client under house arrest Dominique Strauss-Kahn will make a bid for freedom on Thursday with his lawyers set to offer new bail terms including $1m in cash and to place their client under house arrest. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently being held in New York’s Rikers Island prison after being charged with the attempted rape of a hotel employee. A judge rejected his initial plea for bail agreeing with prosecutors that he was a flight risk. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers filed new papers late Wednesday asking a judge to release him on bail. According to the papers the IMF boss is willing to be confined to a location in Manhattan, wear an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his movements and post $1m bail in cash. A grand jury has now been convened to assess whether Strauss-Khan will be indicted. Their decision will not be known until Friday. The decision to press for bail ahead of Friday’s decision suggests lawyers are urgently trying to free Strauss-Kahn from Rikers where he has been held since Monday. If he is released on bail, the deadline to secure an indictment would be extended. The IMF is coming under increasing pressure to appoint a new head as Strauss-Kahn fights the charges. US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and senior European finance ministers have all suggested he should resign. The scandal comes as the IMF struggles to deal with Europe’s debt crisis. One senior former IMF executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “He has to go. If he is willing to resign, that’s more dignified, and I would have no problem with that. But they have to separate him from the IMF.” He said that vital work was going undone at the IMF because the institution was too distracted by the scandal. “They won’t tell you what is going with the Egypt programme, they won’t say what’s going on with the Portugal meeting on Friday. This is not a joke. This is an organisation that matters to the world economy.” France’s former finance minister Christine Lagarde is emerging as a potential successor to Strauss-Khan, whose job is currently held by his deputy John Lipsky. Swedish finance minister Anders Borg told Sky News that, should the position of IMF managing director be open, Lagarde was one of the “obvious candidates.” Strauss-Kahn’s bail could bear some similarity to the arrangement that saw Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernard Madoff confined to house arrest while awaiting his trial. Madoff had to employ a private security team to constantly monitor his movements and apartment. However Madoff pleaded guilty which made the prosecution more disposed to agree to his bail conditions. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers have so far denied any wrong doing. He is expected to argue that any sexual contact was consensual. The argument has been rejected by Jeffrey Shapiro, a lawyer representing the alleged victim. “There was nothing about any aspect of this encounter between this young woman and the defendant which was remotely consensual or could be construed as consensual, either physical contact or sexual contact,” Shapiro said in an interview with CBS. Dominique Strauss-Kahn United States IMF France Europe New York Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 18, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.