Strauss-Kahn accuser no gold-digger, lawyer claims

Tapes prove that a Guinean chambermaid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is not a gold-digger, her lawyer claimed after an eight-hour meeting with public prosecutors. Kenneth Thompson said he and Nafissatou Diallo are expected to give a press conference on Thursday.

Reuters/Mike Segar

The tape of a phone conversation with a jailed friend shows that Diallo never said “Don't worry, this guy has a lot of money”, as reported in the New York Times earlier this month, Thompson claimed after the two had spent the day at the District Attorney’s office.

"We have been listening to that tape, and that tape shows that the victims never said the words," Thompson said. "She told that gentleman that 'Someone tried to rape me and that he's a powerful, big man’."

The Times’s leaked story threw the prosecution into turmoil by implying that Diallo was after the former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief’s money.

But the phone conversation was in the Guinean language Fulani and Thompson says that an interpreter present on Wednesday gave the lie to that charge.

But he defended Diallo’s right to seek compensation for the alleged assault.

"There is nothing wrong with a woman who's been almost raped to file a lawsuit," he said.

The District Attorney’s office refused to comment.

Diallo went public on Sunday, giving a graphic account of the alleged rape attempt to ABC television.

Defence lawyers say the media offensive is an attempt to stop prosecutors dropping the case.

Strauss-Kahn is to appear in court again on 23 August.

Nafissatou Diallo holds news conference at the Brooklyn Christian Center to thank the broad coalition of New Yorkers who support her, 16:00 Universal Time/12:00pm New York Time. Watch it live on France 24.