Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director General Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been granted bail by a New York judge and vowed to fight charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid in Manhattan.
New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus said that Strauss-Kahn, 62, could be released on $1 million cash bail, and placed under 24-hour home detention with electronic monitoring -- conditions that had been proposed by his lawyers.
The judge also said Strauss-Kahn must have one armed guard at all times at his own expense and have a $5 million insurance bond.
His wife, French television journalist Anne Sinclair, and his daughter Camille Strauss-Kahn had arrived at the court arm in arm. Strauss-Kahn arrived in court looking tired and was wearing a blue shirt, no tie, and a grey jacket.
Strauss-Kahn, a man accustomed to luxury hotel suites and first-class plane travel, had been denied bail in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16 and has spent the past three nights in New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail.
He strongly denied charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, and forcible touching, in a letter released on May 18 by the IMF announcing his resignation.
"I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence," Strauss-Kahn wrote.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Strauss-Kahn was detained by New York authorities on May 14 aboard an Air France flight minutes before it was to depart for Paris.
Prosecutors accuse Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting the maid at the Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan, attempting to rape her, and then, when unsuccessful, forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
Reuters
New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus said that Strauss-Kahn, 62, could be released on $1 million cash bail, and placed under 24-hour home detention with electronic monitoring -- conditions that had been proposed by his lawyers.
The judge also said Strauss-Kahn must have one armed guard at all times at his own expense and have a $5 million insurance bond.
His wife, French television journalist Anne Sinclair, and his daughter Camille Strauss-Kahn had arrived at the court arm in arm. Strauss-Kahn arrived in court looking tired and was wearing a blue shirt, no tie, and a grey jacket.
Strauss-Kahn, a man accustomed to luxury hotel suites and first-class plane travel, had been denied bail in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16 and has spent the past three nights in New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail.
He strongly denied charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, and forcible touching, in a letter released on May 18 by the IMF announcing his resignation.
"I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence," Strauss-Kahn wrote.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Strauss-Kahn was detained by New York authorities on May 14 aboard an Air France flight minutes before it was to depart for Paris.
Prosecutors accuse Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting the maid at the Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan, attempting to rape her, and then, when unsuccessful, forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
Reuters