An appeals court in Switzerland said on Tuesday (Sep 10) that it found prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan guilty of rape and sexual coercion in a case 15 years ago, overturning an earlier lower court acquittal.

An appeals court in Switzerland said on Tuesday (Sep 10) that it found prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan guilty of rape and sexual coercion in a case 15 years ago, overturning an earlier lower court acquittal. The appeals court said that it "annuls the judgement of 24 May 2023" and sentenced Ramadan to three years in prison, two of them suspended. The court's verdict was first reported by public broadcaster RTS. Ramadan, 62, was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University and held visiting roles at universities in Qatar and Morocco. Also read | France rape horror: Monstrous husband says wife refused to try 'swinging', forced him to commit heinous crime The 2008 rape case A report by the news agency AFP said that Ramadan's accuser, a Muslim convert identified only as "Brigitte", had testified before the court that he subjected her to rape and other violent sex acts in a Geneva hotel room on October 28, 2008. The lawyer representing Brigitte said she was repeatedly raped and subjected to "torture and barbarism." The woman was in her forties at the time of the alleged rape. She filed a complaint in September 2018, telling the court she felt emboldened to come forward following similar complaints filed against the 62-year-old Islamic scholar in France. Ramadan maintains his innocence Ramadan has maintained his innocence in the case. Ramadan said that Brigitte invited herself up to his room. He let her kiss him, he said, before quickly ending the encounter. The 62-year-old pointed out that he was the victim of a trap. The allegations of rape in France In France, Ramadan is suspected of raping three women between 2009 and 2016. He was forced to take a leave of absence from Oxford University in 2017 when rape allegations surfaced in France. One of the victims is French activist Henda Ayari. In October 2017, Ayari filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office of Rouen, stating that the Islamic scholar raped her at a hotel in Paris. (With inputs from agencies)

Prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan convicted after Swiss court finds him guilty of rape

Renowned Islamic scholar and former professor at Oxford University, Tariq Ramadan, was acquitted of rape and sexual coercion charges by a Geneva Criminal Court on Wednesday (May 24). He was accused by a Swiss woman who has asked to be identified by an alias ‘Brigitte.’&nbsp;

<h2>About the case</h2>

The 60-year-old was accused of rape by a Swiss woman who alleged that the incident took place in a Geneva hotel in 2008 where she was subjected to&nbsp;brutal sexual assault, beatings and insults.&nbsp;

The alleged abuse took place on the night of October 28, 2008, when Brigitte, a fan of Ramadan, was invited by him for coffee after a conference. Ramadan, who is also a Swiss citizen, would have faced up to three years in prison if he was convicted. &nbsp;

<h2>What happened in the court?</h2>

In court, Brigitte also requested that a screen be put up so that she would not have to look at the man she claimed raped her. She also went on to detail the alleged attack in detail and how the two had exchanged messages before their meeting&nbsp;at the conference and book signing.&nbsp;

The Swiss woman also spoke about how she feared that she was going to die. Brigitte said she filed the lawsuit nearly a decade later after multiple allegations emerged against Ramadan in France. While he had also previously denied all the charges, the 60-year-old did admit that he had met the woman before and invited him to his hotel room.

The 60-year-old has since rejected these claims and said he is the victim of a “trap” and called the accusations against him politically motivated. Meanwhile, his French and Swiss lawyers questioned the Swiss woman about the inconsistencies around the dates of the alleged attack.&nbsp;

The prosecution argued that she could not have made up the alleged attack as Brigitte gave details to the judges which she would not have been able to do otherwise.&nbsp;Ramadan’s lawyer also called the charges against his client “crazy”.&nbsp;

During his final statements in court last week, Ramadan asked not to be tried on his “real or supposed ideology” and urged the judges not to be “influenced by the media and political noise”.

The verdict was announced following a week’s deliberation by the three judges in the court in Geneva.&nbsp;Brigitte's&nbsp;lawyers have said that they will appeal the verdict. 
 
More cases to follow? 
 
This case could just be one of many against Ramadan as French prosecutors are still assessing if the charges brought against the Islamic scholar should be taken to court.&nbsp; 
 
He was first accused of rape in 2017&nbsp;by a French woman and after the case went public, more&nbsp;women came forward. As of 2020, Ramadan is facing at least five charges of rape, one of which was in Switzerland, while others are in France.&nbsp;

As per media reports, investigators have found hundreds of text messages he had sent to the women, some of which detail violent sexual fantasies. He also reportedly faces criminal rape complaints made by women in the United States. Notably, he had also spent nine months in detention in France before he was released&nbsp;in 2018.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

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Renowned Islamic scholar and former professor at Oxford University, Tariq Ramadan, was acquitted of rape and sexual coercion charges by a Geneva Criminal Court on Wednesday (May 24).

Renowned Islamic scholar and former professor at Oxford University, Tariq Ramadan, was acquitted of rape and sexual coercion charges by a Geneva Criminal Court on Wednesday (May 24). He was accused by a Swiss woman who has asked to be identified by an alias ‘Brigitte.’ About the case The 60-year-old was accused of rape by a Swiss woman who alleged that the incident took place in a Geneva hotel in 2008 where she was subjected to brutal sexual assault, beatings and insults. The alleged abuse took place on the night of October 28, 2008, when Brigitte, a fan of Ramadan, was invited by him for coffee after a conference. Ramadan, who is also a Swiss citizen, would have faced up to three years in prison if he was convicted. What happened in the court? In court, Brigitte also requested that a screen be put up so that she would not have to look at the man she claimed raped her. She also went on to detail the alleged attack in detail and how the two had exchanged messages before their meeting at the conference and book signing. The Swiss woman also spoke about how she feared that she was going to die. Brigitte said she filed the lawsuit nearly a decade later after multiple allegations emerged against Ramadan in France. While he had also previously denied all the charges, the 60-year-old did admit that he had met the woman before and invited him to his hotel room. The 60-year-old has since rejected these claims and said he is the victim of a “trap” and called the accusations against him politically motivated. Meanwhile, his French and Swiss lawyers questioned the Swiss woman about the inconsistencies around the dates of the alleged attack. The prosecution argued that she could not have made up the alleged attack as Brigitte gave details to the judges which she would not have been able to do otherwise. Ramadan’s lawyer also called the charges against his client “crazy”. During his final statements in court last week, Ramadan asked not to be tried on his “real or supposed ideology” and urged the judges not to be “influenced by the media and political noise”. The verdict was announced following a week’s deliberation by the three judges in the court in Geneva. Brigitte's lawyers have said that they will appeal the verdict. More cases to follow? This case could just be one of many against Ramadan as French prosecutors are still assessing if the charges brought against the Islamic scholar should be taken to court. He was first accused of rape in 2017 by a French woman and after the case went public, more women came forward. As of 2020, Ramadan is facing at least five charges of rape, one of which was in Switzerland, while others are in France. As per media reports, investigators have found hundreds of text messages he had sent to the women, some of which detail violent sexual fantasies. He also reportedly faces criminal rape complaints made by women in the United States. Notably, he had also spent nine months in detention in France before he was released in 2018. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan acquitted in Swiss rape trial

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&#39;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.

&quot;If there are other victims in France or elsewhere, they now know that the justice system will respond to what has happened to them,&quot; said Jonas Haddad, lawyer for feminist activist Henda Ayari, the first woman to accuse Ramadan.

Women who have testified anonymously during three months of preliminary investigations might now also file rape complaints, one of the sources said.

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<h5>The claims against the prominent scholar, which emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the United States, have divided many Muslims, with his legions of fans, as well as his lawyers, saying he is the victim of a smear campaign. But critics have long suggested that despite Ramadan&#39;s moderate tone as a familiar face on television programmes, he preaches a more radical line when addressing Muslims in Arabic</h5>
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The claims against the prominent scholar, which emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the United States, have divided many Muslims, with his legions of fans, as well as his lawyers, saying he is the victim of a smear campaign.

But critics have long suggested that despite Ramadan&#39;s moderate tone as a familiar face on television programmes, he preaches a more radical line when addressing Muslims in Arabic.

Ramadan is the most high-profile figure to be held in France over the sexual assault and harassment claims that have rippled around the world as a result of the &quot;Me Too&quot; campaign.

The married father of four has denied the accusations from the two women.

&#39;Humiliations&#39; 
The first was made by Ayari, a feminist activist who previously practised a conservative strain of Islam. She had described being raped in a book published in 2016, without naming her attacker.

But in October, she said she had decided to name Ramadan publicly as the alleged perpetrator as a result of the &quot;Me Too&quot; campaign, using the French hashtag &quot;Balance Ton Porc&quot; (Expose your pig).

She said Ramadan raped her in his hotel room, telling Le Parisien newspaper: &quot;He choked me so hard that I thought I was going to die.&quot;

She lodged a rape complaint against Ramadan on October 20.

Several days later an unidentified disabled woman, a Muslim convert, also accused the academic of raping her in a hotel room in the southeastern city of Lyon in 2009.

Vanity Fair magazine, which met the woman, said her lawsuit against Ramadan described &quot;blows to the face and body, forced sodomy, rape with an object and various humiliations, including being dragged by the hair to the bathtub and urinated on&quot;.

During three hours of testimony in Paris on Thursday, the woman -- using the pseudonym &quot;Christelle&quot; -- recounted her allegations to the judge in Ramadan&#39;s presence.

She also revealed that Ramadan had a small scar on his groin that would not have been noticed except in the case of close contact, a source said.

Rejecting her testimony, the scholar refused to sign the official summary of the account, sources close to the case said.

&quot;Both sides maintained their positions,&quot; one of the sources said.

&#39;Campaign of lies&#39; 
During three months of investigations since the allegations emerged, police have interviewed dozens of people close to both Ramadan and the two women, and examined email and social media exchanges between them.

In November, Oxford University said Ramadan was taking a leave of absence from his post as professor of contemporary Islamic studies, &quot;by mutual agreement&quot;.

He has also denied allegations in Swiss media of sexual misconduct against teenage girls in the 1980s and 1990s, denouncing them as &quot;a campaign of lies launched by my adversaries&quot;.

Lawyers for Ramadan have accused Ayari of slander and suggested the women colluded to try to disgrace him.&nbsp;

As part of his defence, he has presented investigators with Facebook conversations in which a woman identified as Ayari allegedly made explicit advances towards him in 2014, two years after the alleged rape.

The accusations have sparked heated online debate between supporters of Ramadan, who commands a following of more than two million fans on Facebook, and his opponents.

Despite his leave of absence from Oxford, Ramadan continues to head the Islamic Institute for Ethical Training in France.

Ayari was placed under police protection in November after receiving death threats. 
&nbsp;

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. Women who have testified anonymously during three months of preliminary investigations might now also file rape complaints, one of the sources said. The claims against the prominent scholar, which emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the United States, have divided many Muslims, with his legions of fans, as well as his lawyers, saying he is the victim of a smear campaign. But 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 × The claims against the prominent scholar, which emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the United States, have divided many Muslims, with his legions of fans, as well as his lawyers, saying he is the victim of a smear campaign. But 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. Ramadan is the most high-profile figure to be held in France over the sexual assault and harassment claims that have rippled around the world as a result of the "Me Too" campaign. The married father of four has denied the accusations from the two women. 'Humiliations' The first was made by Ayari, a feminist activist who previously practised a conservative strain of Islam. She had described being raped in a book published in 2016, without naming her attacker. But in October, she said she had decided to name Ramadan publicly as the alleged perpetrator as a result of the "Me Too" campaign, using the French hashtag "Balance Ton Porc" (Expose your pig). She said Ramadan raped her in his hotel room, telling Le Parisien newspaper: "He choked me so hard that I thought I was going to die." She lodged a rape complaint against Ramadan on October 20. Several days later an unidentified disabled woman, a Muslim convert, also accused the academic of raping her in a hotel room in the southeastern city of Lyon in 2009. Vanity Fair magazine, which met the woman, said her lawsuit against Ramadan described "blows to the face and body, forced sodomy, rape with an object and various humiliations, including being dragged by the hair to the bathtub and urinated on". During three hours of testimony in Paris on Thursday, the woman -- using the pseudonym "Christelle" -- recounted her allegations to the judge in Ramadan's presence. She also revealed that Ramadan had a small scar on his groin that would not have been noticed except in the case of close contact, a source said. Rejecting her testimony, the scholar refused to sign the official summary of the account, sources close to the case said. "Both sides maintained their positions," one of the sources said. 'Campaign of lies' During three months of investigations since the allegations emerged, police have interviewed dozens of people close to both Ramadan and the two women, and examined email and social media exchanges between them. In November, Oxford University said Ramadan was taking a leave of absence from his post as professor of contemporary Islamic studies, "by mutual agreement". He has also denied allegations in Swiss media of sexual misconduct against teenage girls in the 1980s and 1990s, denouncing them as "a campaign of lies launched by my adversaries". Lawyers for Ramadan have accused Ayari of slander and suggested the women colluded to try to disgrace him. As part of his defence, he has presented investigators with Facebook conversations in which a woman identified as Ayari allegedly made explicit advances towards him in 2014, two years after the alleged rape. The accusations have sparked heated online debate between supporters of Ramadan, who commands a following of more than two million fans on Facebook, and his opponents. Despite his leave of absence from Oxford, Ramadan continues to head the Islamic Institute for Ethical Training in France. Ayari was placed under police protection in November after receiving death threats.

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan charged with rape: Legal source

Beleaguered Maldives President Abdulla Yameen is adamant that the first execution of a convict in sixty years will take place under his watch, as a reiteration of Maldives&#39; Islamic credentials. 
 
The politically isolated president, who is shunned by colleagues and family, is refusing to intervene despite several scholars calling the proposed execution un-Islamic. 
 
He has also ignored appeals of human rights groups and even the United Nations to stay the execution. 
 
Twenty two-year-old Hussain Humaam Ahamed was condemned to death by the Maldives Supreme Court in 2014 for the murder of a Member of Parliament, Afrasheem Ali, in 2012. 
 
The verdict was based on a confession that was obtained while he was in custody, and which he retracted later.&nbsp; 
 
The Supreme Court, over which President Yameen has a stranglehold, disregarded the claim that Humaam has a mental disability and the request for an independent psychiatric evaluation. If the death sentence is carried out, it will be the first execution in the Maldives since 1953. 
 
Islamic scholar calls execution &#39;un-Islamic&#39;&nbsp; 
 
The voices of protest have been crushed in the Maldives due to strict curbs, but renowned Islamic scholar at the University of Oxford, Tariq Ramadan, in a letter to President Yameen, has listed out reasons why the proposed execution is un-Islamic. 
 
Citing extensively from the Hudud -- the Islamic Penal Code, Ramadan has argued that 22-year-old Humaam&#39;s death penalty contravened many basic prescriptions in the Shariah.&nbsp; 
 
Stating that Humaam`s &#39;confession&#39; was forcefully obtained, undermining fairness of his trial at a basic level, Ramadan has pointed out that pleas made by Humaam`s family that he was suffering from mental disability, has been totally disregarded by the court. This, Ramadan argues, is also against Islamic law and jurisprudence as any doubt about the mental health of a murderer should play in his or her favour. 
 
The heavy conditions found in the Islamic legislation have as a raison d`etre (`illah) to avoid any doubt; if there is the slightest doubt, then the punishment should be suspended. Ramadan also emphasises that it was un-Islamic on the part of President Yameen to ignore requests of the victim`s father and brother, who have stated that they do not wish the death sentence to be implemented. 
 
This call to spare Humaam&#39;s life by two members of the victim&#39;s family cannot be ignored under Sharia law.&nbsp; 
 
According to the principles of qisas, if the family of the victim asks for the sentence not to be implemented at any time before the execution (for the majority of the `ulama`), the latter should be suspended whatever the public authority might decide. 
 
If Yameen were to respect Shariah conditions, it is imperative for him to listen to the family`s position, says the scholar. Ramadan adds that the above and beyond all of this, Rahmah (compassion) is an absolute necessity and an essential principle even if there is no element of doubt and conditions are met. 
 
Ramadan has categorically stated in his letter to President Yameen that Humaam`s execution would contravene the fundamental principles of Islamic law and urged the latter to take all possible actions to prevent the execution. 
 
The scholar also got support from human rights groups around the world who have appealed to the Maldivian president that International law prohibits the use of death penalty against people with mental disabilities.&nbsp; 
 
But President Yameen, who has reintroduced capital punishment after a moratorium of 60 years, seems determined to not just stop the arbitrary deprivation of life but also break the tenets of Islamic law. Ever since President Yameen reintroduced the death penalty in Maldives, execution facilities have been constructed at the Maldives` Maafushi Prison. The age of criminal responsibility is 10 in the Maldives which means that even juvelines could potentially face execution. 
 
(ANI)&nbsp;

The politically isolated Abdulla Yameen refuses to intervene despite several scholars calling the execution un-Islamic

Beleaguered Maldives President Abdulla Yameen is adamant that the first execution of a convict in sixty years will take place under his watch, as a reiteration of Maldives' Islamic credentials. The politically isolated president, who is shunned by colleagues and family, is refusing to intervene despite several scholars calling the proposed execution un-Islamic. He has also ignored appeals of human rights groups and even the United Nations to stay the execution. Twenty two-year-old Hussain Humaam Ahamed was condemned to death by the Maldives Supreme Court in 2014 for the murder of a Member of Parliament, Afrasheem Ali, in 2012. The verdict was based on a confession that was obtained while he was in custody, and which he retracted later. The Supreme Court, over which President Yameen has a stranglehold, disregarded the claim that Humaam has a mental disability and the request for an independent psychiatric evaluation. If the death sentence is carried out, it will be the first execution in the Maldives since 1953. Islamic scholar calls execution 'un-Islamic' The voices of protest have been crushed in the Maldives due to strict curbs, but renowned Islamic scholar at the University of Oxford, Tariq Ramadan, in a letter to President Yameen, has listed out reasons why the proposed execution is un-Islamic. Citing extensively from the Hudud -- the Islamic Penal Code, Ramadan has argued that 22-year-old Humaam's death penalty contravened many basic prescriptions in the Shariah. Stating that Humaam`s 'confession' was forcefully obtained, undermining fairness of his trial at a basic level, Ramadan has pointed out that pleas made by Humaam`s family that he was suffering from mental disability, has been totally disregarded by the court. This, Ramadan argues, is also against Islamic law and jurisprudence as any doubt about the mental health of a murderer should play in his or her favour. The heavy conditions found in the Islamic legislation have as a raison d`etre (`illah) to avoid any doubt; if there is the slightest doubt, then the punishment should be suspended. Ramadan also emphasises that it was un-Islamic on the part of President Yameen to ignore requests of the victim`s father and brother, who have stated that they do not wish the death sentence to be implemented. This call to spare Humaam's life by two members of the victim's family cannot be ignored under Sharia law. According to the principles of qisas, if the family of the victim asks for the sentence not to be implemented at any time before the execution (for the majority of the `ulama`), the latter should be suspended whatever the public authority might decide. If Yameen were to respect Shariah conditions, it is imperative for him to listen to the family`s position, says the scholar. Ramadan adds that the above and beyond all of this, Rahmah (compassion) is an absolute necessity and an essential principle even if there is no element of doubt and conditions are met. Ramadan has categorically stated in his letter to President Yameen that Humaam`s execution would contravene the fundamental principles of Islamic law and urged the latter to take all possible actions to prevent the execution. The scholar also got support from human rights groups around the world who have appealed to the Maldivian president that International law prohibits the use of death penalty against people with mental disabilities. But President Yameen, who has reintroduced capital punishment after a moratorium of 60 years, seems determined to not just stop the arbitrary deprivation of life but also break the tenets of Islamic law. Ever since President Yameen reintroduced the death penalty in Maldives, execution facilities have been constructed at the Maldives` Maafushi Prison. The age of criminal responsibility is 10 in the Maldives which means that even juvelines could potentially face execution. (ANI)

Maldives President adamant first execution in 60 years will go ahead, to reiterate country's 'Islamic credentials'

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Prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan convicted after Swiss court finds him guilty of rape

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan acquitted in Swiss rape trial

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan charged with rape: Legal source

Maldives President adamant first execution in 60 years will go ahead, to reiterate country's 'Islamic credentials'