The Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan will stand trial at a Paris criminal court for rapes alleged to have taken place between 2009 and 2016, two judges decided on Friday.
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The judges, however, partially dismissed allegations made by two of the four women who had made the accusations.
Laure Heinich, who is defending three of these women, said her clients were delighted with the judges’ decision and “the obviously meticulous work” done by the magistrates. Another lawyer for the women, Laura Ben Kemoun, added that the plaintiffs were “relieved and ready for what lies ahead”.
Ramadan’s lawyers condemned the decision to move to trial while an appeal was pending at the French Supreme Court. Ramadan’s defence team has appealed the validation by the court of appeal in May of crucial reports by a psychiatric expert.
Ramadan spent nine months in pre-trial detention in 2018 while investigations into the allegations in France took place. The same year, a woman in Geneva known in the Swiss press as “Brigitte” brought rape accusations against Ramadan. The trial for the Geneva case took place this spring. Ramadan was acquitted, a judgement that the Office of the Attorney-General of Geneva has appealed.
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