A court in Paris has sentenced prominent Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in jail for raping three women, two years after he was given a jail term for a separate rape offence in Switzerland.
The French rape case unfolded in 2017, when two of the three women came forward during the Me Too campaign against sexual abuse and harassment. Ramadan, a 63-year-old former professor of Islamic studies at St Antony's College in Oxford, did not attend the trial in Paris, although he has always denied the charges.
His lawyers stated he was undergoing treatment for multiple sclerosis in Geneva and condemned the trial as a farce. The court has issued an arrest warrant for Ramadan, who could face a permanent ban from France. Judge Corinne Goetzmann highlighted the serious nature of Ramadan's offenses, emphasizing that consent does not equate to consent for all sexual acts.
One of the accusers, Henda Ayari, expressed relief that the court believed her testimony after years of suffering and struggle. Ayari described Ramadan's attack on her in a hotel room in 2012.
Ramadan, the grandson of Hassan al-Banna—founder of the Muslim Brotherhood—has characterized the accusations against him as a politically motivated smear campaign. He insists that his health issues prevented him from attending the trial and is now calling for a new one, asserting his innocence.
The French rape case unfolded in 2017, when two of the three women came forward during the Me Too campaign against sexual abuse and harassment. Ramadan, a 63-year-old former professor of Islamic studies at St Antony's College in Oxford, did not attend the trial in Paris, although he has always denied the charges.
His lawyers stated he was undergoing treatment for multiple sclerosis in Geneva and condemned the trial as a farce. The court has issued an arrest warrant for Ramadan, who could face a permanent ban from France. Judge Corinne Goetzmann highlighted the serious nature of Ramadan's offenses, emphasizing that consent does not equate to consent for all sexual acts.
One of the accusers, Henda Ayari, expressed relief that the court believed her testimony after years of suffering and struggle. Ayari described Ramadan's attack on her in a hotel room in 2012.
Ramadan, the grandson of Hassan al-Banna—founder of the Muslim Brotherhood—has characterized the accusations against him as a politically motivated smear campaign. He insists that his health issues prevented him from attending the trial and is now calling for a new one, asserting his innocence.
