Khaleej Times

Another rape complaint against Tariq Ramadan

- Reuters

According to the results of the examinatio­n, the samples had traces of toxic chemical BZ and its precursors

Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

geneva — A Swiss woman has filed a criminal complaint in Geneva for rape against the Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan — already being held in custody in France on similar allegation­s — her lawyer said on Friday.

The allegation by the unnamed Swiss woman, a convert to Islam, relates to an alleged incident in Geneva in October 2008, the daily Tribune de Geneve said, citing a 13-page document. The woman was about 40 at the time.

“At this stage of the procedure, I can confirm that we have filed a criminal complaint,” her lawyer Romain Jordan told Swiss Television TSR on Friday night. “The complaint puts forward facts that may amount to rape with aggravated circumstan­ces.”

He declined to give further details.

Yael Hayat, one of Ramadan’s lawyers in Geneva, declined to comment on television, saying she was unaware of the case filed with the Geneva prosecutor. The prosecutor’s spokesman did not immediatel­y respond to a query.

In France last month, a 45-year-old woman filed a new rape case against the Swiss academic, the third against the Islamic studies professor, judicial sources said.

Ramadan, 55, was ordered in February to remain in custody in France and was notified that he was the target of a full investigat­ion into rape allegation­s, which he denied.

Married with four children, he is a grandson of Hasan Al Banna, an Islamist thinker and activist who founded the Muslim Brotherhoo­d in Egypt. He enjoys a substantia­l following among young Muslims and has challenged French restrictio­ns on wearing veils. Ramadan took a leave of absence from his professors­hip at Britain’s Oxford University last November after the first two women filed complaints against him in France alleging rape. —

The complaint puts forward facts that may amount to rape with aggravated circumstan­ces

Romain Jordan, lawyers of the Swiss woman

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