Swiss court acquits Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on sexual, rape charges; check details
Tariq Ramadan, who is 60, had faced up to three years in prison if convicted. He denied all the charges, but did admit to having met the woman. The trial was a sharp contrast to the career so far of the man once feted as a "rock star" of Islamic thought.
FollowA Swiss court on Wednesday (May 24) acquitted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape and sexual coercion, citing no evidence against the former Oxford University professor.
It is reportedly said that the plaintiff's lawyers immediately vowed to appeal the verdict in the case heard in the Geneva Criminal Court.
The case was brought by a Swiss woman who said she had been raped by the Islamic scolar in a Geneva hotel in 2008. A convert to Islam, and a fan of Ramadan's, the woman told the court she had been subjected to a brutal sexual assault, beatings and insults.
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She said it happened after she was invited by the Oxford academic for a coffee after a conference.
Tariq Ramadan, who is 60, had faced up to three years in prison if convicted. He denied all the charges, but did admit to having met the woman. The trial was a sharp contrast to the career so far of the man once feted as a "rock star" of Islamic thought.
Ramadan appeared as a voice of reason as Europe struggled with terrorist attacks and rising anti-Muslim feeling - condemning terrorism, opposing the death penalty, and even being denied entry to Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Syria.
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In 2004 he was voted one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. In 2007 he became a professor of Islamic studies at St Anthony's College Oxford. He also had his critics, particularly in France, where a number of leading academics accused him of anti-Semitism.
