Strauss-Kahn sex case dismissed

23 August 2011 Last updated at 12:36 ET

Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived at court with his wife Anne Sinclair (left) in a six-car motorcade

A New York judge has dismissed the sexual assault case against former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The move came as prosecutors cited doubts over the credibility of his accuser, 32-year-old hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, was accused in May of attacking the African immigrant as she entered his hotel room to clean it.

The ruling means he is a free man, though he still faces a civil suit Ms Diallo filed this month.

“Our inability to believe the complainant beyond a reasonable doubt means, in good faith, that we could not ask a jury to do that,” Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told Judge Michael Obus.

The dismissal of the criminal case will take effect once Judge Michael Obus rules on an appeal against the move.

‘Hurried sexual encounter’

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was considered a possible candidate for president of France before the case, arrived at the New York State Supreme Court in lower Manhattan on Tuesday in a six-car motorcade with his wife Anne Sinclair.

Outside, about two dozen placard-waving protesters denounced the collapse of the case, their cries audible from the packed courtroom on the 13th floor.

Ms Diallo claimed Mr Strauss-Kahn had confronted her in his luxury hotel suite in the city on May 14 and forced her to perform oral sex.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence had found that a “hurried” sexual encounter did occur between the two, but it did not establish Ms Diallo’s claim that it was non-consensual.

In a statement released by his legal team on Tuesday, Mr Strauss-Kahn said: “These past two-and-a-half months have been a nightmare for me and my family.

“I want to thank all the friends in France and in the United States who have believed in my innocence, and to the thousands of people who sent us their support personally and in writing.

“I am most deeply grateful to my wife and family who have gone through this ordeal with me.”

He added: “We will have nothing further to say about this matter and we look forward to returning to our home and resuming something of a more normal life.”

Manhattan prosecutors filed court papers on Monday saying they did not feel at ease pursuing the case, citing deep concerns over Ms Diallo’s credibility.

She “has not been truthful on matters great and small” and has an ability to present “fiction as fact with complete conviction,” they wrote.

Medical and DNA evidence, meanwhile, was “simply inconclusive” as proof of a forced sexual encounter, they added.

The Frenchman was forced from his job as director of the International Monetary Fund after his arrest on board an Air France jet in May.

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