Shaming of the world's top banker: Strauss- Kahn forced to wear prison 'suicide smock'



Disgraced Strauss-Kahn forced to wear prison 'suicide smock'

Sensationally quits as head of International Monetary Fund



Bleary-eyed, unshaven and forced to wear a blue anti-suicide smock, this is Dominique Strauss-Kahn pictured in jail ahead of his bail hearing.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund had to give up his expensive suit for the unflattering one-piece during his stay in New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison.

Inmates are put in the sleeveless garment, called a ‘suicide smock’ because it is too bulky to make into a noose when whole and too tough to tear.

Blue: Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seen in a restrictive prison outfit at the Rikers Island jail on Wednesday

Most prisoners who kill themselves while in jail do so using their bedding or clothes to hang themselves.

The expression on Strauss-Kahn’s face also suggests he was finding Rikers Island, where he had been since May 16, increasingly hard to deal with.

Gone is the petulant scowl that he put on during his first court appearance.

Uniform: This is how IMF boss Dominque Strauss-Kahn would look in the Riker Island blue one-piece suicide smock

Suicide smocks - also worn by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay - are usually made from nylon Cordura, a hard-wearing synthetic material which is ten times tougher than a pair of Levi’s jeans.

They are also fire-resistant so inmates who smuggle in a lighter or matches will not be able to burn themselves to death.

Manufacturers of the garment say blue and green are often chosen because the colours are considered to be ‘soothing’.

The latest images released of Strauss-Kahn portray a man who appears to have been broken by his short-stay inside one of America's most notorious prisons.

On Thursday his apparent fall from grace appeared complete as he resigned from his post as head of the IMF.

In his letter of resignation released by the IMF, Strauss-Kahn said: 'I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me.

'I want to protect this institution which I have served with honour and devotion, and especially - especially - I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence.'

Defence lawyers successfully pushed for him to be released on $6million cash bail on Thursday and placed under 24-hour home detention with electronic monitoring.



IMF officials had been urging Strauss-Kahn to stand down as head of the global finance body but admitted that it had been difficult to communicate with him as he is in prison.

Prosecutors want to quash Strauss-Khan's likely line of defence - that the maid did consent to sex.

In a setback to the case, a New York madam has come forward claiming Strauss-Kahn paid her $2,500 for her escort girls.

Kristin Davis, 35, claimed the IMF chief used the services of Wicked Models twice in 2006.

Disguise: The alleged victim of the sexual assault is helped into court today where she is due to testify in front of a grand jury about what happened at the Sofitel in New York on Sunday Victim and accused: The hotel maid who has accused Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her arrives in court with a blanket covering her head, left, and right, the IMF chief's mugshot was released yesterday by NYPD



The Frenchman, who was not in the IMF post at the time, was believed to have been referred to the brothel owner by Irma Nici, a Bosnian prostitute who had been living in Paris, according to The Times newspaper.

Ms Nici - also linked with Davis’s most famous client, the former New York governor Eliot Spitzer - recently claimed to have slept with David Beckham. The footballer denies the allegation.

STRAUSS-KAHN'S LETTER IN FULL

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board:



It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today to present to the Executive Board my resignation from my post of Managing Director of the IMF.



I think at this time first of my wife - whom I love more than anything - of my children, of my family, of my friends.



I think also of my colleagues at the Fund; together we have accomplished such great things over the last three years and more.



To all, I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me.



I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially - especially - I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence.



Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Strauss-Kahn allegedly called Davis in the third week of January 2006 to request an 'all American' girl'. Davis said he paid about $2,400 for two hours with her.



'He paid in cash', she told the Times. 'The first girl I sent to him said he was aggressive and didn’t want to be back with him again.'

Irma Nici, who has also been linked with Davis’s most famous client, the former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, told the Daily Mail: 'Strauss-Kahn was rough and aggressive, however he maintained a certain level of decorum because he was dealing with an agency.

'The girls said he was pushy, overly grabby and forceful. He did not rape anyone. However, at $1,000 or more an hour, we expected the clients to behave like gentlemen, not animals.'



It also emerged on Thursday that just one hour after Strauss-Kahn left the Times Square hotel at 12.30pm on Saturday, hotel staff phoned police about the attack.



NYPD investigators are also DNA-testing samples of fluid they found in the $3,000-a-night suite where Strauss-Kahn had been staying.



The maid showed them where she had spat after the Frenchman allegedly forced her to perform oral sex, according to CBS News.

Notice: A copy of the letter of resignation - in French - from International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn which came after a week of immense pressure for the chief to resign

Part of the system: Strauss-Kahn's mugshot was included in the NYPD prisoner movement slip

Police also say they have checked information from the suite door's electronic card reader which indicates the woman came into the room but didn't shut the door, as is hotel policy.



This proves the maid was in the room to work, not have consensual sex, investigators told the news station.

Allegations: Former madam Kristin Davis claims that Strauss-Kahn used her escort service in 2006

Described as a 'good Muslim' by a close friend, the maid was an asylum seeker from Guinea - one of the poorest countries in Africa.



She was granted asylum, according to lawyer Mr Shapiro, and netted the job at the prestigious Sofitel in order to support her now 15-year-old teen daughter.



If she had been earning Guinea's average annual wage of $1,000, it would have taken her three years to stay just one night in the suite where the alleged attack took place.



Mr Shapiro said yesterday that the maid had no idea there was a man inside the suite she went into clean or that he was a famous French politician.

She was now 'alone in the world' after her life had been 'turned upside down' by the alleged attack,' he said.



'She can't go home, she can't go back to work. This has been nothing short of a cataclysmic event in her life,' he added.



He also dismissed suggestions by Strauss-Khan's legal team that the woman had made up charges or is trying to cover up a consensual encounter.

This is nothing other than a physical, sexual assault by this man on this young woman,' he said.

'What (Strauss-Kahn) might be able to get away with in some countries, he can't here in this country.'



Hitting back: The lawyer for the hotel maid Jeffrey Shapiro said that there was 'nothing consensual' about what went on in the room

Strauss-Khan has denied all of the charges against him, which include sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.



His lawyer Benjamin Brafman said he is confident his client will be exonerated once all the physical evidence is collected at his arraignment on Monday.



Strauss-Khan is currently on suicide watch at Rikers Island prison where he is being held without bail after a judge turned down a $1million offer at the hearing in Manhattan's Criminal Court.



Norman Seabrook, president of the correction officers union, said Strauss-Kahn did or said something during a mental health evaluation that concerned doctors, and he is being monitored day and night.



A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of prisoner medical information, said Strauss-Kahn had not tried to harm himself.



Because he is such a high profile person Strauss-Khan has been placed in a cell on his own at the notorious prison complex.

