Prosecutors requestcourt to drop assault charges

In a 25-page motion of `Recommendation for Dismissal` submitted in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, prosecutors from the office of Manhattan`s District Attorney said the "case rises and falls" on the testimony of Nafissatou Diallo, the 32-year-old Guinean maid who said Strauss-Kahn sexually abused her in May when she had gone to clean his suite in the city`s posh hotel Sofitel.

"The nature and number of the complainant`s falsehoods leave us unable to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt, whatever the truth may be about the encounter" between Strauss-Kahn and Diallo.

"If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so."

The motion requested Justice Michael Obus to dismiss the seven-count indictment against Strauss-Kahn.

Justice Obus will hear the case tomorrow.

Prosecutors said at the time of the indictment, the available evidence "satisfied" them that she was "reliable."

"But evidence gathered in our post indictment investigation severely undermined her reliability as a witness in the case. After an extensive investigation, it is clear that proof of two critical elements - force and lack of consent - would rest solely" on Diallo`s testimony.

While the "physical, scientific and other evidence" establishes that Strauss-Kahn engaged in a "hurried sexual encounter" with Diallo, it does not "independently establish her claim of a forcible, nonconsensual encounter."

Prosecutors said apart from Strauss-Kahn and Diallo, there are no other eyewitnesses to the May 14 incident.

"Undeniably then for a trial jury to find the defendant guilty, it must be persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant is credible," they said.

Enumerating the reasons for their decision, the prosecutors said Diallo provided "shifting and inconsistent versions" of the events surrounding the alleged assault.

"As a result we cannot be sufficiently certain of what actually happened on May 14 or what account of these event the complainant would give at trial."

The prosecutors said Diallo has not been "truthful" in her interviews with them, and instead has admitted that the accounts she gave to prosecutors and the grand jury of her actions immediately after the sexual assault are "false."

In two interviews, Diallo gave a "vivid and highly detailed, convincing" account of having been raped in her native country, which she now admits is entirely false.

Diallo`s lawyer Kenneth Thompson voiced his anger at the district attorney`s decision to drop the charges.

"The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case. He has not only turned his back on this victim but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case. If the Manhattan district attorney, who is elected to protect our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, our wives and our loved ones, is not going to stand up for them when they are raped or sexually assaulted, who will."

Diallo was with Thompson but remained silent.

Hardly had Chairman Hamid Ansari taken his seat, BJP Deputy Leader S S Ahluwalia demanded the discussion.

He was joined by his party colleagues and members from other opposition parties including Left, AIADMK, JD-U and BSP.

The pleas of Ansari in the Rajya Sabha and Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha cut no ice and both the Houses were adjourned till noon. .