New York prosecutors seek to drop Strauss-Kahn charges
Baku, August 23 (AZERTAC). Prosecutors have asked a judge to drop a sexual assault case against former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
They told a New York judge they were "no longer convinced of the defendant`s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt".
The case - based on an accusation by hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo - crumbled in recent weeks over questions about her credibility and motives.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested in May accused of sexually assaulting the 32-year-old African immigrant.
In a filing in New York state court, prosecutors told a judge Ms Diallo had "not been been truthful on matters great and small."
A judge is expected to rule on the motion on Tuesday.
If the case is dropped Mr Strauss-Kahn would be free to return to France, though he also faces a civil lawsuit from Ms Diallo.
Reasonable doubt
In the court filing, prosecutors laid out in detail the case they had assembled against Dominique Strauss-Kahn - and the doubts they quickly began having.
"The physical, scientific and other evidence establishes that the defendant engaged in a hurried sexual encounter with the complainant, but it does not independently establish her claim of a forcible, nonconsensual encounter," the filing said.
In addition, "evidence gathered during our post-indictment investigation severely undermined her reliability as a witness in this case".
Within weeks the case was called into question as prosecutors said there were inconsistencies in Ms Diallo`s accounts of her background and of the alleged assault.
It was revealed that she had been recorded discussing the case with a jailed friend and appeared to refer to Mr Strauss-Kahn`s wealth, which his supporters said pointed to a financial motive in her pursuit of the case.
Prosecutors also said Ms Diallo had not been truthful in tax documents, nor on an asylum application form in her account of a gang rape she said she suffered back in Guinea.
With the case resting entirely on the need to convince a jury that Ms Diallo was telling the truth, prosecutors were said that if they were unable to believe her story beyond a reasonable doubt, "we cannot ask a jury to do so".
Speaking to reporters after a brief meeting with prosecutors at the court in Manhattan, Ms Diallo`s lawyer Kenneth Thompson insisted that justice was not being done.
"Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case. He has not only turned his back on this innocent victim but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case.
Mr Thompson filed a motion asking the judge to disqualify Mr Vance`s office from the case and to appoint a special prosecutor, charging that Mr Vance`s staff had mishandled the prosecution and had leaked information to the news media that damaged the case.
Concerns
Mr Strauss-Kahn`s lawyers noted they had insisted on Mr Strauss-Kahn`s innocence since the beginning of the case.
"We also maintained that there were many reasons to believe that Mr Strauss-Kahn`s accuser was not credible," William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman said in a statement.
"Mr Strauss-Kahn and his family are grateful that the district attorney`s office took our concerns seriously and concluded on its own that this case cannot proceed further."
Authorities in Paris are still considering whether to press charges against him over an allegation by French writer Tristane Banon that he tried to rape her during a 2003 interview.
An international media frenzy erupted on 14 May when Ms Diallo told police that Mr Strauss-Kahn had confronted her naked as she entered a suite at the Sofitel Hotel in New York City, chased her and forced her to perform oral sex.
The 62-year-old IMF director was arrested that day on board an Air France jet and was later marched out of a New York police station in handcuffs.
Authorities in New York said they had DNA evidence showing a sexual encounter occurred and that Ms Diallo`s account of the alleged assault was credible.
Mr Strauss-Kahn vehemently denied the accusation, and his lawyers said any sexual encounter between the two had been consensual.
`Inconsistencies`
Mr Strauss-Kahn had been touted as a leading contender to take on French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the April 2012 presidential elections.
After his arrest, he was forced out of his job as director of the International Monetary Fund and later placed under house detention.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was later freed from his restrictive bail conditions.
Ms Diallo then took the unusual step of giving media interviews, defending her allegations against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
On 8 August, she filed a civil suit against him.
An opinion poll released in July showed two-thirds of French people do not want Mr Strauss-Kahn to be a candidate in the 2012 elections.
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