Swiss prosecutors appeal against Tariq Ramadan acquittal

Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan (centre) talks to the press with his lawyers after his acquittal by a Geneva court on May 24, 2023. © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

The Office of the Attorney General of Geneva has confirmed its appeal against a local court’s decision to clear Tariq Ramadan last month. The renowned Islamic studies scholar had been accused of “rape and sexual coercion” by a Swiss woman.

The Geneva prosecutor’s appeal, first reported in the Tribune de Genève newspaper, follows an appeal by the woman who brought the recent case against Ramadan, who is also a Swiss citizen.

On May 24 a Geneva court acquitted Ramadan on charges of rape and sexual constraint, citing lack of material evidence more than a decade after the alleged actions, contradictory witness statements and what resembled love messages to the accused. The judges said they were unable to decide on the guilt of Tariq Ramadan “beyond any reasonable doubt”.

+ Tariq Ramadan: Swiss court clears Islamic scholar of rape charges

Following the verdict the lawyers of the plaintiff, known as “Brigitte”, denounced the “partiality of the court”. The plaintiff claimed she had been raped by Ramadan in a Geneva hotel in October 2008. A convert to Islam, and a fan of the renowned Islamic studies scholar, the woman, now 57, told the court she had been subjected to brutal sexual acts accompanied by physical blows and insults in a room at Hotel Mon Repos.

The Geneva court decided however that there was a lack of proof to find the Swiss scholar guilty.

+ Rape trial of Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan begins in Geneva

Ramadan, 60, had always denied the allegations, although he acknowledged during the investigation that he had met her. During his trial, he explained that he was the victim of a woman who had been rejected and hurt.

+ Investigation opens in Geneva after Tariq Ramadan accused of rape

Ramadan also faces charges in France, where four women have accused him of rape committed between 2009 and 2016. Ramadan spent nine months in pre-trial detention in 2018, the same year “Brigitte” made the allegations against him. His legal problems in France, for which he remains free under judicial supervision, had delayed proceedings in Geneva.

French prosecutors are still deciding whether charges brought against Ramadan should go to court. He continues to protest his innocence in all the cases and has vowed to clear his name.

Ramadan earned his doctorate from the University of Geneva and taught in the city for many years. He has also been a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University in the UK and a guest lecturer at numerous universities in Morocco, Malaysia, Japan and Qatar. He is the grandson of the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan el-Banna. His father, Said, fled to Switzerland in 1954.