‘He choked me so hard I thought I was going to die’: Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan charged with rape
Critics have long suggested that despite Ramadan’s moderate tone as a familiar face on television programmes, he preaches a more radical line when addressing Muslims in Arabic
Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan has been charged with rape, a judicial source said, following claims by two women that he assaulted them in French hotel rooms in 2009 and 2012.
Ramadan, who was arrested by French police on Wednesday, was charged on Friday with connected charges of rape and rape of a vulnerable person, the source said.
The accused is a Swiss citizen whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.
After two days of questioning by investigators, the 55-year-old Oxford professor was brought before three magistrates who have been assigned to the case, suggesting that he is facing an extensive investigation, judicial sources said.
“If there are other victims in France or elsewhere, they now know that the justice system will respond to what has happened to them,” said Jonas Haddad, lawyer for feminist activist Henda Ayari, the first woman to accuse Ramadan.
If there are other victims in France or elsewhere, they now know that the justice system will respond
Women who have testified anonymously during three months of preliminary investigations might now also file rape complaints, one of the sources said.