IMF chief under suicide watch in NY prison

Strauss-Kahn wears a specially designed suit, slip-on shoes with no laces.

NEW YORK:

Under suicide watch, Dominique Strauss-Kahn wears a specially designed jumpsuit and lives in a tiny cell, monitored by a guard positioned just a few steps away, a source said Wednesday.

The 11 x 13 foot (3.3 x 3.9 meters) cell is in the West Facility of the infamous Rikers Island prison, located in Manhattan’s swirling East River.

Here, Strauss-Kahn, who only a few days ago was checking into a $3,000 a night suite at the Sofitel in Times Square, is waiting until Friday to hear whether he’ll be sent to trial on charges that he tried raping a chambermaid.

The International Monetary Fund chief – and a man who until this scandal was seen as a potential next president of France – is considered a suicide risk and has been placed on special guard.

Ordinarily, a suspect awaiting trial, considered innocent until proven guilty, is detained with numerous privileges, including the right to wear his own clothes and bring in possessions.

Not Strauss-Kahn

A law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the 62-year-old VIP has been placed in an area normally reserved for inmates with contagious diseases.

That’s because the layout, with cells designed to isolate prisoners as much as possible, suits requirements in this extraordinarily high profile case.

So in that tiny space he has in addition to his bed a shower and toilet and table for eating.

And he is entirely alone. Or almost. “There’s no one else there except guards. In this case, there is a guard just a very few feet away,” the source said.

Rather being allowed to stay in his elegant executive’s attire, Strauss-Kahn has been given a grey jumpsuit specially designed to minimise risks.  

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.