One of the rape accusations levelled against Tariq Ramadan has been dropped, according to his lawyer.
At a hearing last week Professor Ramadan admitted having a consensual sexual relationship with Mounia Rabbouj, a former escort girl, but denied rape. Rabbouj claimed to have been raped nine times in several countries – France, United Kingdom and Belgium – between 2013 and 2014.
Ramadan’s lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, said: “One can consider that the judges did not have any serious… indications that might suggest he had committed the acts he is accused of. This implies that the charges against Tariq Ramadan have not been deemed credible.”
Ramadan, who faces rape accusations by three other women, was heard by judges last Tuesday for the first time since he was detained on February 2.
The 55 year old adamantly denies the charges and has filed a lawsuit for defamation against one of his accusers, French activist and author Henda Ayari, who described her rape without naming her attacker in a 2016 book on how she was drawn to radical Islam.
Ramadan, whose grandfather Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, is a theologian, philosopher and religious commentator. A professor of contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, he is the author of several books on Islam.
The women’s accusations have seriously damaged Ramadan’s reputation, leading him to take a leave of absence from his teaching job at Oxford. He has been denied bail on two occasions. And a request for early release on health grounds (Ramadan suffers from multiple sclerosis) has also been refused.
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Ramadan’s family has stood by his side throughout the ordeal. His eldest daughter, Maryam Ramadam, slammed the proceedings as a “media lynching” in an interview published by French newspaper Libération on Monday.
