Dominique Strauss-Kahn was given back his passport Thursday, his legal team said, clearing the way for the former IMF head to travel abroad for the first time since his arrest three months ago on sex crime charges.
?I can confirm that the New York Police Department and the Office of the District Attorney returned Mr Strauss-Kahn?s passport,? Shawn Naunton, from the French politician?s legal team, said after a brief visit to his Manhattan home.
The DA?s office said it could no longer pursue the case because while Mr Strauss-Kahn did engage in sex with a Manhattan hotel maid, her repeated lying to investigators made it impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt her allegations of sexual assault.
?As you all know, Mr Strauss-Kahn?s freedom was restored on Tuesday and the criminal charges were dismissed. It?s gratifying to return his passport to him today,? Naunton said.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is believed to be preparing to return to France, where until his arrest he was seen as a leading prospect to become president in elections next year.
Despite the dismissal of charges, the affair remains a dark cloud over his reputation.
A spokesman at the International Monetary Fund, where Mr Strauss-Kahn had to give up the leadership in the wake of his arrest, said that a visit was expected ?as early as next week.?
The IMF, which plays a crucial but often controversial role in aiding countries in financial straits, was left reeling after Strauss-Kahn resigned as chief in May in the middle of tense negotiations over Greece?s massive bail-out.
?Like any former managing director of the IMF, Mr Strauss-Kahn would be welcome to visit the Fund. I understand that he intends to make a personal visit to headquarters,? IMF spokesman David Hawley told a press briefing.
?It?s a personal visit ? I expect he would meet with the staff. I don?t have any further details on the visit, which is not yet fully fleshed out,? he said.
The case against Strauss-Kahn, 62, sensationally collapsed after prosecutors said his accuser, Guinean immigrant Nafissatou Diallo, could no longer be believed.
She had lied both about details of the case and about her background, destroying her credibility in a he-said/she-said trial.
The maid?s lawyer continues to argue that his client has been denied her right to justice and that prosecutors turned their backs on the medical evidence that showed a brief sex act took place in the hotel room. He has filed a civil lawsuit on Diallo?s behalf seeking unspecified monetary damages.
From The Daily Telegraph, August 25, 2011.
Photo caption: Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair go for a walk in their Tribeca neighborhood in New York City. Photo: BIG
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/dominique-strauss-kahn/8723800/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn-retrieves-passport.html
Source: http://morrisonworldnews.com/?p=56599
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