International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, charged with trying to rape a maid at a hotel where he was staying, has been placed on suicide watch at the Rikers prison in New York.

The prison complex on Rikers Island, also known as "The Rock", has been filmed in numerous crime series. Rikers Island Prison in New York, in which Dominique Strauss-Kahn was remanded in custody Monday night, can accommodate up to 17,000 inmates.

Rikers Island, which extends over 1,700 square km , is home to ten of the fifteen detention facilities in New York, according to prison authorities. It also employs 7,000 guards and 1,500 civilians.

62-year-old Strauss-Kahn has been placed under suicide watch after undergoing a mental health evaluation. The IMF head has made no attempt to injure himself, according to a prison official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Being on suicide watch at Rikers means that an inmate is checked every 15 to 30 minutes and needs to wear a special prison jumpsuit and shoes that have no laces.

In France, defenders of Strauss-Kahn, believe he has fallen victim to a conspiracy, according to surevy of the CSA institute. 57% of the polled are absolutely sure that the occurrence was a smear campaign, 32% do not believe that the hotel maid was part of the plot, while 11% can not make up their mind on the matter.

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