French court sentences Islamic scholar to 18 years in prison for rape
Tariq Ramadan, currently in Switzerland, was found guilty of raping three women in a Paris trial
Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in prison by a Paris criminal court for the rape of three women.
The verdict marks the latest fall from grace for the former Oxford University professor, who faces a string of rape allegations in Switzerland and France and has already been convicted in the former.
While he had been on trial in Paris since March 2 for rapes allegedly committed against three women between 2009 and 2016, Ramadan did not appear in court in person.
His lawyer cited a “flare-up” of multiple sclerosis requiring hospitalisation in Geneva to explain his absence - but this was rejected by a court-ordered medical assessment.
Presiding Judge Corinne Goetzmann said a warrant for the 63-year-old’s arrest had been issued. The court also barred the scholar from setting foot on French territory again after the end of his sentence.