Banon, 32, accuses Strauss-Kahn, 62, of locking her in a Paris apartment and attempting to rape her in 2003. Strauss-Kahn was a friend and former lover of Banon's mother, BBC reports.
The prosecution dropped the sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn last month after deciding the accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, was not a strong enough witness. The dismissal of the case brought an abrupt end to the three-month investigation.
Furthermore the lawyer said the tapes show that Diallo's depiction to police of what happened in the hotel room is consistent with what she told her friend immediately after the incident.
The interviews with Newsweek and ABC were set up by the New York hotel maid's lawyer after prosecutors said that the case against Strauss-Kahn had been hurt by problems with her testimony and her credibility
Koubbi denied the decision to file a lawsuit was influenced by the New York case. “Even if that case against Mr Strauss-Kahn turns out to be unfounded, ours is not - it is extremely solid and backed-up,” L'Express quoted him as saying.
In a stunning reversal of fortune, Strauss-Kahn might be released on his own recognizance and freed from house arrest, and it is unlikely that the most serious charges against him will stand.
Follow us: