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The prominent Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan, a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, has been charged with rape and ordered to remain in custody in France.

Ramadan, 55, is being held on charges of rape and rape of a vulnerable person after two women accused him of violently assaulting them in hotel rooms in Lyon and Paris in 2009 and 2012 after conferences.

Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan taken into custody by French police Read more

Ramadan, a Swiss citizen whose grandfather Hassan al-Banna founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, was taken into custody on Wednesday as part of a preliminary inquiry in Paris.

A regular face on French television, he is the most prominent figure to be held in France after the women, emboldened by the #MeToo campaign to stamp out sexual assault and harassment, went to the police.

The professor – who made his name as an author and commentator on modern Islam, as well as advising successive British governments on Islam and society – has denied the separate accusations by the two women.

After two days of questioning Ramadan, who is married with four children, was brought before three magistrates who have been assigned to the case, suggesting that he is facing an extensive investigation, judicial sources told AFP. In the full investigation opened this week, French magistrates must establish whether he should stand trial.

Feminist campaigner accuses Oxford professor of rape Read more

The first police complaint against Ramadan was made by Henda Ayari, 41, a feminist activist who previously practised a conservative strain of Islam and now heads the women’s organisation Les Libératrices.

She filed a complaint with prosecutors in Rouen in October 2017 alleging rape, sexual violence, harassment and intimidation by Ramadan. She said she was assaulted by him in a Paris hotel room after a conference in 2012.

“He choked me so hard that I thought I was going to die,” she told Le Parisien newspaper. “He slapped me because I resisted. He raped me. I felt I was in extreme danger.” She said she had gone to talk to him at his hotel after the conference as a kind of “big brother figure”.

Ayari had described the rape in a chapter of her 2016 book, I Chose to be Free, giving her assailant a made-up name and saying that an intellectual had attacked her in a hotel room. She fought back but was insulted, slapped and treated violently, she wrote.

After the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault and harassment scandal broke in the autumn of 2017 Ayari said she had decided to go public and name Ramadan. She made a formal complaint on October 20.

A few days later an anonymous disabled woman, a Muslim convert, accused the academic of raping and violently assaulting her in a hotel room in the south-eastern city of Lyon in 2009.

The French edition of Vanity Fair magazine, whose staff met the 45-year-old 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”.

The woman said Ramadan had asked to meet her in the bar of the Hilton hotel in Lyon, where he was taking part in a conference in 2009. She had previously been in contact with him online for some months, seeking advice.

In online messages and chats, Ramadan had told the woman he was living separately from his wife, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

In the hotel bar Ramadan had complained that people had recognised him and were staring at him, suggesting they instead go to his room. He took the stairs while the woman, who walks with a crutch after a car accident, took the lift. The woman said she was attacked very soon after entering the room, sustaining blows to the face, arms, breasts and stomach before being repeatedly raped.

During three hours of testimony in Paris on Thursday, the woman — referred to in the media by the pseudonym “Christelle” — recounted her allegations to the judge in Ramadan’s presence. She said that Ramadan had a small scar on his groin that could only be seen through close contact, a source said.

Rejecting her testimony outright, Ramadan refused to sign the official summary of the account, sources close to the case said. “Both sides maintained their positions,” a legal source said.

Eric Morain, Christelle’s lawyer, said the charges were “an important step” after what he called “a painstaking three-month investigation, 48 hours of police questioning and a confrontation with my client”.

Police have interviewed dozens of people close to both Ramadan and the two women, and examined email and social media exchanges between them.

Ramadan, a senior research fellow of St Antony’s College, took leave of absence from Oxford University last November “by mutual agreement” after the two women filed complaints.

He continues to head the Islamic Institute for Ethical Training in France.



Ayari was placed under police protection in November after receiving death threats.</s>The accused is a Swiss citizen whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Ramadan, who was arrested by French police on Wednesday, has now been charged with connected charges of rape and rape of a vulnerable person. (Photo: AFP)

Paris: Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan was charged with rape on Friday, 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, has now been charged 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.

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.

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 separate accusations from the two women.

The first was made by Henda 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 violently 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.

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.</s>Islamic scholar us being questioned over rape and assault allegations

French police on Wednesday detained prominent Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, a legal source said, months after two women filed rape charges against him.

The Oxford professor was summoned for questioning to a Paris police station and taken into custody “as part of a preliminary inquiry in Paris into rape and assault allegations,” the source said.

Ramadan, the grandson of the founder of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, has furiously denied rape allegations from two women that emerged late last year, as the Harvey Weinstein scandal unfurled in the U.S.

Henda Ayari, a feminist activist, says Ramadan raped her in a Paris hotel room in 2012, while an unnamed disabled woman also accused the academic of raping her in a hotel room in Lyon in 2009. In November, Oxford University announced that 55-year-old Ramadan was taking a leave of absence from his post as professor of contemporary Islamic studies, “by mutual agreement.”

Popular among conservative Muslims and a regular panelist on TV debates in France, Ramadan faces regular accusations from secular critics that he promotes a political form of Islam. Ayari, a self-described “secular Muslim” who used to practice an ultra-conservative strain of Islam that she has since renounced, detailed her rape allegations in a book published last year, without naming Ramadan. But in October she said she had decided to name him publicly, encouraged by the thousands of women speaking out against sexual assault and harassment under the “Me Too” online campaign and its French equivalent, “Balance Ton Porc” (Squeal on your pig).

Ayari, who lodged a rape complaint against Ramadan on Oct. 20, charged that for him, “either you wear a veil or you get raped.”

“He choked me so hard that I thought I was going to die,” she told Le Parisien newspaper.

Ramadan has denied the two women’s accusations, as well as further allegations in Swiss media of sexual misconduct against teenage girls in the 1980s and 1990s, as “a campaign of lies launched by my adversaries.”</s>PARIS: Prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan remained in custody in Paris today after spending a night behind bars over rape allegations that emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

The Oxford professor was taken into custody on Wednesday as part of a preliminary inquiry in Paris into rape and assault allegations, with a legal source saying investigators wanted to question him further on Thursday morning.

Ramadan, a Swiss national whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement, has furiously denied separate accusations from two Muslim women that he raped them in French hotel rooms in 2009 and 2012.

A regular face on French television, the 55-year-old academic is the most prominent figure to be held in France over the sexual assault and harassment claims that have rippled around the world as a result of the online "Me Too" campaign.

Henda Ayari, a feminist activist who used to practise a conservative strain of Islam, 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 -- which in France is known as "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 unnamed disabled woman, a Muslim convert, also accused the academic of violently raping her in a hotel room in the southeastern city of Lyon in 2009.

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 denied the two women's accusations, as well as further 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 the married father-of-four have accused Ayari of slander and suggested the women colluded to try and 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.

Both women have already been questioned by police in Paris and the northern city of Rouen.

The accusations have sparked heated online debate between supporters of the telegenic Ramadan, who commands a following of more than two million fans on Facebook, and his opponents.

Ayari was placed under police protection in November after receiving death threats.</s>Author Tariq Ramadan is seen during an interview with Reuters in New York April 8, 2010. Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, has been taken into custody by French police following accusations of rape, according to a judicial source. — Reuters picPARIS, Feb 2 — Prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan will face a French investigating magistrate today after two days of questioning over claims by two women that he raped them in French hotel rooms in 2009 and 2012.

The judge may then formally charge the 55-year-old Oxford professor over the allegations which emerged in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, a judicial source told AFP.

Ramadan, a Swiss citizen whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, was taken into custody Wednesday as part of a preliminary enquiry in Paris into the rape and assault allegations.

A regular face on French television, he is the most prominent 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.

Ramadan has denied the separate accusations from the two women.

The first was made by Henda 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 violently 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 yesterday, the woman — using the pseudonym “Christelle” — recounted her allegations to the judge in Ramadan’s presence.

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 source said.

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, a married father of four, 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.

Ayari was placed under police protection in November after receiving death threats.

Ramadan continues to head the Islamic Institute for Ethical Training in France. — AFP</s>PARIS (Reuters) - Prominent Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, has been taken into custody by French police following accusations of rape, a judicial source said on Wednesday.

The source said a preliminary investigation was opened after two complaints were filed against Ramadan, a well-known figure in the Middle East. He is the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, Hassan al-Banna.

Ramadan took a leave of absence from Oxford last November after two women filed complaints in France alleging rape. He has denied the allegations and filed a complaint for slander against author Henda Ayari, one of his accusers.</s>PARIS — French authorities say prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan is being investigated for allegedly raping two women and could be held in long-term custody while the probe continues.

A judicial official said the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a formal inquiry Friday based on complaints against Ramadan the women filed last year. Ramadan has been in custody for questioning in Paris since Wednesday.

The official says Ramadan could be handed preliminary charges of rape in one case, relating to a 2009 incident, and rape of a vulnerable person in the second case, involving an incident in 2012.

The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named and requested anonymity.

The prosecutor’s office is asking judges to keep Ramadan in custody, likely because of concerns he could leave the country.

Ramadan, who is Swiss, strongly denies wrongdoing and has filed his own suit for false allegations. He is on leave from Oxford University, where he is a professor of contemporary Islamic studies.

Ramadan, who travels frequently and has written numerous books on Islam and the integration of Muslims in Europe, is being investigated by French authorities because the rapes are alleged to have taken place in Paris and Lyon.</s>PARIS (AP) - French authorities say prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan is being investigated for allegedly raping two women and could be held in long-term custody while the probe continues.

A judicial official said the Paris prosecutor's office opened a formal inquiry Friday based on complaints against Ramadan the women filed last year. Ramadan has been in custody for questioning in Paris since Wednesday.

The official says Ramadan could be handed preliminary charges of rape in one case, relating to a 2009 incident, and rape of a vulnerable person in the second case, involving an incident in 2012.

FILE - In this Feb.7 2016 file photo, Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan delivers a speech during a French Muslim organizations meeting in Lille, northern France. Ramadan is facing charges in France after two days in custody for an investigation into accusations of rape and sexual assault. A French judicial official said Friday Feb. 2, 2018 that Ramadan was handed overnight to Paris prosecutors, who are to open a formal inquiry into the case. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)

The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named and requested anonymity.

The prosecutor's office is asking judges to keep Ramadan in custody, likely because of concerns he could leave the country.

Ramadan, who is Swiss, strongly denies wrongdoing and has filed his own suit for false allegations. He is on leave from Oxford University, where he is a professor of contemporary Islamic studies.

Ramadan, who travels frequently and has written numerous books on Islam and the integration of Muslims in Europe, is being investigated by French authorities because the rapes are alleged to have taken place in Paris and Lyon.</s>French authorities say prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan is being investigated for allegedly raping two women and could be detained in long-term custody pending further investigation.

A judicial official said the Paris prosecutor's office opened a formal inquiry Friday based on complaints against Ramadan the women filed last year. The official says Ramadan could be handed preliminary charges of rape in one case and rape of a vulnerable person in the second case.

The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named and requested anonymity.

The prosecutor's office is asking judges to keep Ramadan in custody.

Ramadan, who is Swiss, strongly denies wrongdoing and has filed his own suit for false allegations. He is on leave from Oxford University, where he is a professor of contemporary Islamic studies.</s>French police have been granted an extra 48 hours to question Tariq Ramadan without charge. The Professor of Islamic Studies at the university was arrested on Wednesday during a preliminary investigation after two women accused him of rape and sexual assault last October. A judicial source confirmed this morning Prof Ramadan’s custody had been extended for a further 48 hours in order to give Paris police more time to question the suspect, after which he should either be freed, formally charged, or made an “assistant witness”, meaning police do not believe he committed an offence. Prof Ramadan took a leave of absence from Oxford after the allegations came to light but the Swiss professor vehemently denied raping the two women.

He has since filed a complaint for slander against feminist author and former Salafist Henda Ayari, one of his accusers. Mrs Ayari said the academic raped her in a Paris hotel room in 2012, while his second accuser – a 42-year-old Islam convert whose identity has not been revealed – claimed he raped her in a Hilton hotel in Lyon in 2009. Mrs Ayari, who waived her right to anonymity last year, first mentioned the rape in a book she published in 2016 – in which Prof Ramadan’s name was not mentioned. She later told French media the sex scandal involving Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had encouraged her to “name and shame” her alleged abuser and file an official complaint with police.

The Islam expert took to Facebook to deny the accusations, saying the rape claims were nothing but a “campaign of lies” launched by his “adversaries”. Prof Ramadan, who is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood revivalist movement, has also been accused of sexual violence by four Swiss women – his former pupils – who claim he harassed them and forced them into sex when he worked as a teacher in Switzerland in the 1980s and 1990s. The women made the claims during an interview with the Swiss newspaper La Trubune de Genève last November. Following the interview, Prof Ramadan tweeted: “Anonymous allegations have been made against me in Geneva, accusing me of the abuse of students who were minors nearly 25 years ago. “I categorically deny all these allegations and am today filing a complaint against X for libel.”
After two days of questioning, influential Islamic academician and Oxford professor Tariq Ramadan is charged with the alleged rape of two women and jailed in Paris.