Geneva

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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.

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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.

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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)