Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the one-time French presidential hopeful charged with sexual assault, has found a new home that was accepted Wednesday by a New York judge, DPA reported.
The French economist, who resigned last week as director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was on Friday forced to accept a temporary apartment belonging to the security firm responsible for his confinement after he was rejected by a tony Upper East Side residential building.
The address of the new residence however was not revealed. During his pre-trial confinement, Strauss-Kahn may only leave the apartment under guard for visits to doctors, the synagogue and his lawyers or for court appointments.
Strauss-Kahn was plucked by police out of a first-class seat on an Air France jet minutes before takeoff on May 14 at Kennedy airport, hours after the alleged assault on the Sofitel housekeeper, who is an African immigrant.
The terms of bail included 1 million dollars cash, 5 million dollars in property bonds and the wearing of an electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet during 24-hour confinement to a New York apartment under both video surveillance and the watchful eye of an armed guard.
New York prosecutors opposed the bail conditions, saying a man of such wealth and power could easily escape to his home country, France, which does not extradite its citizens to other countries.
Strauss-Kahn was also required to surrender his passport and a UN diplomatic pass, and he'll be paying an estimated 200,000 dollars a month to his jailer, the Stroz Friedberg security firm.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyer Benjamin Brafman told an Israeli newspaper over the weekend that his client would plead "not guilty" to sexual assault charges.
"He'll plead not guilty and in the end he'll be acquitted," Brafman told Haaretz.
The New York Times reported that semen found on the housekeeper's clothing matched Strauss-Kahn's DNA. Prosecutors charge that she was forced to perform oral sex on him when he trapped her in his room. Brafman could argue that the incident was consensual, reports have said.