Tariq Ramadan, a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford and an adviser to successive British governments, has been charged with rape and ordered to remain in custody in France. The 55-year-old Swiss academic faces allegations from two women who accuse him of violently assaulting them in hotel rooms in Lyon and Paris in 2009 and 2012 after conferences.
Ramadan, whose grandfather Hassan al-Banna founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, was taken into custody on Wednesday as part of a preliminary inquiry in Paris. He has denied the separate accusations by the two women, who were emboldened by the #MeToo campaign to report the alleged assaults.
The first complaint was filed by Henda Ayari, 41, a feminist activist who previously practised a conservative strain of Islam. She alleges Ramadan raped and choked her in a Paris hotel room in 2012. The second complainant, a 45-year-old disabled Muslim convert identified by the pseudonym Christelle, claims Ramadan raped and violently assaulted her in a Lyon hotel in 2009, including forced sodomy and being dragged by the hair.
After two days of questioning, Ramadan was brought before three magistrates, indicating an extensive investigation. He refused to sign the official summary of Christelle's testimony, with both sides maintaining their positions. Eric Morain, Christelle's lawyer, described the charges as an important step after a painstaking three-month investigation.
