Hours after he resigned as International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, jailed Dominique Strauss-Kahn was given bail after being indicted on charges of trying to rape a maid in a swanky New York hotel suite.
But Strauss-Kahn would have to spend another night at New York's infamous Rikers Island jail before being released sometime on Friday. The next court appearance, an arraignment, is slated for June 6. The state Supreme Court judge Michael Obus granted the bail on the condition that Strauss-Kahn post $1 million in cash, post a bond for $5 million, surrender his travel documents and submit to home detention with electronic monitoring.
The announcement came shortly after his indictment on seven criminal charges was announced. They are: two counts of criminal sexual act, two counts of sexual abuse, and one count each of attempt to commit rape, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. In the charge of criminal sexual act in the first degree, Strauss-Kahn is accused of having "engaged in oral sexual conduct with an individual by forcible compulsion", the indictment says.
"Under American law, these are extremely serious charges," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance told reporters outside the courtroom, according to CNN. "The defendant was indicted on all the charges presented to the grand jury," he said. Prosecutor John McConnell argued the former IMF chief had no right to bail.
"While there is presumption of innocence, the proof is substantial and it is growing every day," he said, adding that the forensic evidence is consistent with an attack and the alleged victim has identified Strauss-Kahn as her attacker. Meanwhile, Strauss-Kahn's alleged victim, a 32-year-old Guinean maid for the Sofitel hotel, testified before the grand jury on Wednesday, according to an attorney representing her. While the search begins to replace Strauss-Kahn, the first deputy managing director, John Lipsky, will lead the fund, the IMF said in a statement on Thursday.