French court hands Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan 18-year jail term for rape
Tariq Ramadan was sentenced to 18 years in jail for raping three women in Paris. This occurred two years after he was given a jail term for a separate rape offence in Switzerland. Judge Corinne Goetzmann told the court that a warrant had been issued for Ramadan's arrest.
The French rape case unfolded in 2017, when two of the three women came forward during the Me Too campaign. Ramadan, a 63-year-old former professor, did not attend the trial in Paris, although he has always denied the charges. His lawyers said he was being treated in Geneva for multiple sclerosis and condemned the trial as a farce. Ramadan is also facing a permanent ban from French territory. One of the three women involved in the case, Henda Ayari, spoke of "nine years of suffering and struggle" since she had first come forward to make a complaint. The second woman to come forward in France accused Ramadan of raping her in a hotel in Lyon in 2009, whereas the Swiss case involved a woman who said he had raped her in a Geneva hotel in 2008.
Tariq Ramadan has called for a "new trial, a trial with both parties present". He told Le Parisien newspaper, "I will not let this decision stand," and insisted that it was his health that had stopped him from coming to Paris.
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Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan faces serious accusations in France - years after similar charges in Switzerland. The case has drawn international attention, raising questions about justice and accountability.
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