Strauss-Kahn charges could be dropped this week

22 Aug, 2011

Fallen French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn could be freed this week, as prosecutors reportedly prepare to dismiss explosive charges that the former IMF chief sexually assaulted a hotel maid.
The New York Post, citing sources close to the prosecutors, said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has concluded that the charges cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and will ask a New York judge to dismiss them at a hearing on Tuesday. Nafissatou Diallo, who accused Strauss-Kahn of forcing her into oral sex and trying to rape her when she came to clean his luxury hotel room May 14, has been summoned to a meeting on Monday with Vance.
Kenneth Thompson, who represents the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant, said after receiving Vance's letter that he thought all or some of the charges against Strauss-Kahn may be dropped.
"My interpretation of that letter is that they're going to announce that they're dismissing the case entirely, or some of the charges," Thompson told The New York Times on Saturday. "If they were not going to dismiss the charges," he added, "there would be no need to meet with her. They would just go to court the next day to say, 'We're going to proceed with the case."

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