Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is facing charges of sexual assault, pled not guilty at pre-trial hearings in New York on Monday.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested in mid-May at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on board a plane to Paris. He is charged with sexually assaulting a maid at the Sofitel Hotel near Manhattan's Times Square. He pled not guilty to all charges.
If Strauss-Kahn is found guilty, he may face up to 25 years in prison.
Some 100 maids from the New York Housekeeping Union dressed in their uniforms held a protest against Strauss-Kahn, chanting "shame on you" on the street outside the court. The maids are demanding "justice" and ensuring the security of hotel employees.
The former IMF head had to spend several days in Rikers Island prison before a judge released him on a $1-million cash bail, and placed him under 24-hour house arrest.
Strauss-Kahn is staying with his wife, a well-known French journalist, Anne Sinclair, and daughter Camille at a $50,000-a-month townhouse in Manhattan.
NEW YORK, June 6 (RIA Novosti)
