Switzerland convicts Islamic scholar for rape
The 62-year-old former Oxford University professor was sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended
Daily TribuneThe 62-year-old former Oxford University professor was sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended
Swiss leading Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan at the Geneva court house on 15 May 2023, on the opening day of his trial for "rape and sexual coercion", a case dating back 15 years.
AFP - FABRICE COFFRINI
GENEVA (AFP) — A Swiss appeals court on Tuesday found Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan guilty of raping a woman in a Geneva hotel 15 years ago, overturning an earlier lower court acquittal.
The court said it “annuls the judgement of 24 May 2023” and sentenced the 62-year-old former Oxford University professor to three years in prison, two of them suspended.
The verdict was slightly more lenient than the three years in prison — half suspended — requested by the prosecutor in the appeals case in May.
The ruling — dated 28 August but not made public until after it was reported by broadcaster RTS early on Tuesday — is likely to be subject to an appeal at Switzerland’s highest court.
Ramadan, a charismatic yet controversial figure in European Islam, has always maintained his innocence.
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 during the night of 28 October 2008.
The lawyer representing Brigitte said she was repeatedly raped and subjected to “torture and barbarism.”
