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Tariq Ramadan convicted of rape by Swiss appeals court

man outside a court
Tariq Ramadan outside a courthouse in Geneva, May 2024. Keystone / Valentin Flauraud

A Swiss appeals court has overturned the acquittal of a prominent Islamic scholar on charges of rape and sexual coercion against a woman, Geneva's cantonal government said on Tuesday.

Tariq Ramadan is a grandson of Hasan al-Banna, an Islamist thinker and activist who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He has denied the charges made by an unnamed Swiss woman relating to an alleged 2008 incident in a Geneva hotel.

The ruling by a Geneva criminal court of appeal, dated August 28, reversed his acquittal from May 2023 and sentenced him to three years in prison, of which one must be served.

“The Criminal Appeal and Review Division found that several testimonies, certificates, medical notes and opinions of private experts aligned with the complainant’s testimony,” the Geneva cantonal government said in a statement.

Ramadan can appeal the ruling to a higher Swiss federal court.

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