Strauss-Kahn case set for dismissal

Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R Vance Jr has decided to ask a judge to dismiss the case, 'New York Times' reported today.

If the judge dismisses the indictment, Strauss-Kahn will be free to return to France, and the decision to drop the charges will bring to an end one of the most closely watched prosecutions in decades.

Nafissatou Diallo, the maid and her attorney Kenneth Thompson are due to meet New York prosecutors today, for a meeting which Thompson himself said he believed was called to tell Diallo that all or some of the charges would be dropped.

Diallo, a 32-year-old immigrant from the West African country of Guinea, had accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually abusing her in a Manhattan hotel.

If the defence lawyers and prosecutors come to an understanding, the outcome would leave Diallo with no recourse to pursue criminal charges against 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn, an enormously powerful international banker and a leading candidate for the French Presidency till the charges by the maid bought his career to an almost deadend.

But Diallo has also filed a civil lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from former IMF chief for what the suit called "violent and sadistic attack", that humiliated and degraded her.
Unless there is a postponement, Times said only two options remain for tomorrow's hearing, prosecutors telling the judge they plan to go ahead with the case or prosecutors moving to dismiss charges.

Strauss-Kahn has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him including "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment, and attempted rape." He is currently free on bail, but his passport has been confiscated.