The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn must remain jailed without bail over alleged sexual assault, a New York judge said here on Monday.


Benjamin Brafman, lawyer of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, talks to reporters outside of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, the United States, May 16, 2011. Strauss-Kahn must remain jailed without bail over alleged sexual assault, a New York judge said here on Monday. The judge, Melissa Jackson, refused a request for bail, agreeing that Strauss-Kahn, who was pulled off a Paris-bound plane on Saturday and charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, represented a flight risk. (Xinhua/Wu Kaixiang)
The judge, Melissa Jackson, refused a request for bail, agreeing that Strauss-Kahn, who was pulled off a Paris-bound plane on Saturday and charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, represented a flight risk.


"This is the court's decision. I think he's a flight risk and I 'm remanding him," Jackson told Strauss-Khan's lawyers during a closely-monitored arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.


Strauss-Kahn would be remanded in custody until the next hearing on May 20. The defense lawyers of Strauss-Kahn said the IMF chief intends to vigorously defend these charges and denies any wrongdoing.


On Sunday afternoon, Strauss-Kahn's accuser picked him out of a lineup in East Harlem, where he was being held at the Special Victims Unit.


Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested in New York Saturday after being accused of sexually attacking a 32-year-old maid at the Sofitel New York hotel near Manhattan's Times Square.


Strauss-Kahn is the leader of France's Socialist Party. He is the main rival to President Nicholas Sarkozy in the 2012 elections. He took over the IMF in November 2007.


VietNamNet/Xinhuanet