By Olivia Scheck and Tom Liddy
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — The maid who accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in a Midtown hotel room thanked her supporters Thursday in an emotional press conference at a Brooklyn church.
"What happened to me, I don't want to happen to any other woman," said the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant, who appeared to be overcome at times as she spoke at the Christian Cultural Center on Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie.
In her first public appearance since the alleged incident, Diallo explained what it's been like to live under constant scrutiny since she came forward with her claims that Strauss-Kahn, then a leading French presidential contender, sexually attacked her in his 28th-floor suite at the Sofitel on May 14.
"Me and my family, we are going through a lot," she said. "We're crying every day. We can't sleep."
She said that her daughter told her: "'Please mom, stop crying. Be strong for me.' And I told her I'm going to be strong for you and every other woman in the world."
Among the most most upsetting aspects of the case, Diallo said, is the backlash and the accusations that have been leveled against her.
"I am here because a lot of people call me bad names," she said during the brief appearance, wearing a black blazer and white button-down shirt. "A lot of things they say about me is not true.
"I'm asking, 'God, why me.'"
Prosecutors challenged Diallo's credibility in a note to defense attorneys earlier this month, saying that she lied about aspects of her background and was inconsistent in her recounting of the events at the Sofitel.
The note plunged the case into chaos and led to Strauss-Kahn being released without bail.
Reports in the New York Post also emerged in which it was alleged that she was a prostitute. The paper has been sued for those reports.
Diallo gave a lengthy interview to Newsweek earlier this week in which she admitted that she had fabricated some of the portions of her application for political asylum, but insisted she was being truthful about the alleged attack by Strauss-Kahn.
"People say her credibility is an issue, but what about Dominique Strauss-Kahn's credibility?" asked Diallo's laywer, Kenneth Thompson, who said he plans to file a civil suit "soon."
On Wednesday, Diallo's attorneys met with prosecutors for nearly eight hours, going over tapes which prosecutors said reveal Diallo discussing Strauss-Kahn's wealth with a jailed Arizona man. Her lawyer staunchly denied that characterization of the discussion as he left the DA's office Wednesday.
Church and community leaders said that appeared with Diallo Thursday assailed the Manhattan DA's office for its handling of the case.
"The Manhattan district attorney has thrown this victim of a sexual abuse case under the bus," said Noel Leader, of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care.
And the Christian Cultural Center's senior pastor, A. R. Bernard, said that the political future of DA Cyrus Vance Jr. might be in jeopardy.
"I think and hope he is intelligent enough to know what has been implied here," he said.
