As pressure mounts on Dominique Strauss-Khan to quit as head of the IMF over attempted rape charges, Jon Snow hears what life is like in the notorious Rikers Island jail where DSK is being held.
Politicians across the globe have begun to call for Mr Strauss-Kahn’s resignation, after the 62-year old head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was charged on Sunday with the attempted rape of a hotel maid in New York. He denies the charges.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said: “I can’t comment on the case, but he is obviously not in a position to run the IMF.”
He added: “I think it’s important that the board of the IMF formally put in place for an interim period somebody to act as managing director.”
Mr Strauss-Kahn is alone in a cell at New York’s Rikers Island jail, awaiting his next court appearance on Friday. He was denied bail at his first hearing and is under suicide watch as a precautionary measure, a law enforcement source said. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
He has to consider that he would otherwise do damage to the institution. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter
Currently, Mr Strauss-Kahn’s deputy John Lipsky is in charge of the IMF, but no formal interim chief has been named.
The organisation, charged with managing the world economy and negotiating debt deals, said it had not been in touch with DSK, as he is known in France, since his arrest, but believed it would be important to do so “in due course”.
Life inside Rikers Island jail
DSK is sharing Rikers with a staggering 14,000 other male inmates although he is under "special protection" which accords him, for the moment, a cell to himself, writes Channel 4 News Presenter Jon Snow.
His breakfast is served this morning between 5am and 6am. According to a contact of mine who was in there for a bit, breakfast consists of processed meat, tinned veg, some wonky cabbage, and a sickly sweet orange drink. I don't feel well even writing this.
Read more from Snowblog on the view from inside Rikers Island jail
Mr Strauss-Kahn is also losing support in Europe.
Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said: “Given the situation, that bail has been denied, he has to consider that he would otherwise do damage to the institution.”
And Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado cast doubt on Mr Strauss-Kahn’s judgement, saying he had to make a decision over whether to quit.
“That is a decision which it is to up to Mr. Strauss-Kahn to take, but the crimes he is accused of are very serious… My solidarity first and foremost is with the woman who suffered the attack, if that was what happened,” she said.
The allegations levelled at Mr Strauss-Kahn come at a key moment for Europe and the IMF, as it struggles to cope with a burgeoning debt crisis in states including Greece and Portugal.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was also rumoured to be considering a bid for the presidency of France in next year’s election, an ambition which is now almost certainly over. He has been in custody since being marched off an Ar France jet on Saturday to face the charges in New York.