Swiss Court Finds Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan Guilty Of Rape

A Swiss appeals court has convicted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan of raping a woman in a Geneva hotel 15 years ago.

The court overturned a previous acquittal of May 24, 2023, and sentenced the 62-year-old former Oxford University professor to three years in prison, with two years suspended, Geneva’s cantonal government said on Tuesday.

“The Criminal Appeal and Review Division found that several testimonies, certificates, medical notes and opinions of private experts aligned with the complainant’s testimony.

“Elements collected during the investigation have thus convinced the chamber of the guilt of the accused,” the Geneva canton’s government said in a statement.

Ramadan, a prominent figure in European Islam, has consistently denied the allegations and is expected to appeal the decision to a higher Swiss federal court.

The case against Ramadan began in 2018 when a woman, identified only as “Brigitte,” filed a complaint alleging that he had raped her in a Geneva hotel room in 2008.

Ramadan claimed that the encounter was consensual and that Brigitte had invited herself to his room. He let her kiss him, he said, before quickly ending the encounter.

Ramadan’s legal team has indicated that they will appeal the decision, maintaining that the scholar is innocent and that the allegations are part of a “trap” set by his accuser.

This case is one of several allegations of sexual misconduct made against Ramadan in recent years. He is also facing charges in France, where he is suspected of raping three women between 2009 and 2016.

The grandson of Hasan al-Banna, an Islamist thinker and activist who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, has denied the charges made.