Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty to sex assault

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, pleaded not guilty in New York City Mondayto charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in the luxury suite of a hotel in mid-May.

Strauss-Kahn, once considered a likely candidate for the presidency of France, appeared in a New York courtroom Monday morning to enter his plea.

Speaking in a strong voice and flanked by his defence lawyersand wife Anne Sinclair, Strauss-Kahn answered not guilty to the accusations.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Orbus told Strauss-Kahn he needed to appear in court and had a right to be present at his trial, to which the economist said "yes." His next court date was set for July 18.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, has been out onbail of $1 million US cash and a $5 million bond and has been living under house arrest with his wife in a newly rented, $50,000-a-month Tribeca townhouse. He is under guard at his own expense.

The case is expected to turn on the credibility of the maid, 32,and the diplomat. She reported the assault May 14, leading police to pull Strauss-Kahn from an Air France flight about to leave for Paris and arrest him.His subsequent treatment by the U.S. media and justice system stunned French society.

He has denied seven charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.

The prosecutor in the case is Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who has been Manhattan district attorney for just 1 years. Strauss-Kahn is being defended by lawyers Benjamin Brafman and William W. Taylor III. Brafman previously won the acquittal of Sean (P. Diddy) Combs in 1999 on weapons and bribery charges.

DNA matched, prosecutors say

The maid at the Sofitel near Times Square in Manhattan told police Strauss-Kahn chased her down a hall in his hotel suite May 14, tried to pull down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex.

Prosecutors said last month that evidence against Strauss-Kahn was building by the day. Tests have found Strauss-Kahn's DNA matched material on the woman's uniform shirt, people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.

By the end of the case, "it will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion in this case whatsoever," Brafman said outside court after the brief hearing. "Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not credible."

Brafman's similar comments at an earlier court hearing have led to speculation that the defence will argue the encounter was consensual. He repeated again Monday that he and co-counsel William Taylor would not be commenting on the specifics of the case.

"We will defend this case in the courtroom," he said, urging there not be a rush to judgment.

Hasn't worked since

The maid's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, said she would testify in court, and he condemned speculation that she either made up the attack or exaggerated the claims.

"The victim wants you to know that all of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's power, money and influence throughout the world will not keep the truth about what he did to her in that hotel room from coming out," Thompson said.

Thompson said the 32-year-old woman has not worked since the encounter, because she is traumatized, and she will not settle the case or back down.

"She is standing up for women around the world sexually assaulted who are too afraid to come forward," he said.

The hearing, which lasted about five minutes, was an arraignment, a standard proceeding in U.S. courts where the defendant is formally advised of the charges and is given the chance to plead. The lawyer also briefly discussed the handing over of potential evidence in the case.

'A hard-working woman'

Protesters gathered outside to jeer Strauss-Kahn, who resigned from his powerful post amid the scandal, and proclaimed his innocence in a letter to staff. About 50 hotel workers were bused in by their union gathered outside the courthouse, many wearing their work uniforms. They shouted "shame on you" as Strauss-Kahn arrived, and again as he left in a black sport-utility vehicle.

The accuser "is a hard-working woman who was just doing her job," said Wendy Baranello, a hotel union organizer. "It's outrageous."

Active in French politics since the 1970s, DSK, as he is known, became managing director of theIMF in 2007, leaving Paris for Washington and later earning international praise for his guidance of the organization during the global economic downturn.

It has emerged since his arrest that, reportedly,his personal life has long featured an aggressive approach to women that went unreported in European media.

His extramarital affairs have long been considered an open secret, according to a profile in the New York Times, but the current legal charges "are of an entirely different magnitude, even in France and elsewhere in continental Europe, where voters have generally shown more lenience than Americans toward the sexual behaviour of prominent politicians."