{"id":425776,"date":"2011-05-17T23:45:06","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T23:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/17\/imf-chiefs-accuser-traumatised\/"},"modified":"2011-05-17T23:45:06","modified_gmt":"2011-05-17T23:45:06","slug":"imf-chiefs-accuser-traumatised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/17\/imf-chiefs-accuser-traumatised\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF chief’s accuser ‘traumatised’"},"content":{"rendered":"

17 May 2011<\/span> Last updated at<\/span> 19:45 ET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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Strauss-Kahn was refused bail on charges of trying to rape a maid<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The woman who says she was sexually assaulted by International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is living through an “extraordinary” trauma, her lawyer has said.<\/p>\n

He said the woman, a 32-year-old hotel maid, was now in hiding and felt “alone in the world”.<\/p>\n

The alleged assault happened at New York’s luxury Sofitel hotel on 14 May.<\/p>\n

Mr Strauss-Kahn – who denies the claims – has been put on suicide watch in the city’s infamous Rikers Island prison.<\/p>\n

As a precaution, guards are required to check on him every 15 to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old faces seven charges and could be sentenced to up to 25 years in jail.<\/p>\n

The defence offered to post $1m (\u00a3617,000) bail, with Mr Strauss-Kahn to stay at his daughter’s address in New York until the next hearing on Friday. However, a New York judge rejected the application.<\/p>\n

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who had been seen as a favourite in France’s 2012 presidential elections, is also facing growing pressure to step down as head of the IMF.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStart Quote<\/span><\/h2>\n
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It’s not just my opinion that this woman is honest. The New York City Police Department reached the same conclusion\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

End Quote<\/span> Jeffrey Shapiro<\/span> hotel maid’s lawyer<\/span><\/div>\n

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that Mr Strauss-Kahn was “obviously not in a position to run” the organisation after his arrest. Mr Geithner added that the IMF’s 24-member executive board should formally designate an interim head.<\/p>\n

The IMF says it has been briefed on the charges against its managing director and will “continue to monitor developments”.<\/p>\n

In France, meanwhile, leaders of Mr Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist Party met in Paris and said they objected to the broadcasting of “humiliating” images of the IMF chief in handcuffs.<\/p>\n

‘No agenda’<\/span><\/p>\n

The alleged victim is an immigrant from the West African nation of Guinea, her lawyer Jeffrey Shapiro said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He said the woman – who has not been named – arrived to the US seven years ago and was living with her teenage daughter.<\/p>\n

Mr Shapiro said her story of being assaulted by Mr Strauss-Kahn in the hotel suite near Times Square was “consistent” because she was telling the truth.<\/p>\n

“There is no way in which there is any aspect of this event which could be construed consensual in any manner. This is nothing other than a physical, sexual assault by this man on this young woman.”<\/p>\n

The lawyer added: “It’s not just my opinion that this woman is honest. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reached the same conclusion. This is a woman with no agenda.”<\/p>\n

Mr Shapiro also said that his client only became aware of who Mr Strauss-Kahn was after the police were called.<\/p>\n

Formal identification<\/span><\/p>\n

The charges relate to an alleged assault at the Sofitel hotel, which is located in the heart of New York.<\/p>\n

Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n

Charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn<\/h2>\n