Rape-accused scholar Tariq Ramadan says he had relationship with one of the complainants
Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan has confessed to having a relationship with one of the five women who have accused him of rape, according to media reports.
However, lawyers for the prominent professor, who has been detained in France since February, said the relations were not as portrayed by the alleged victim.
“He knows her, he had a relationship with her, but not what she described,” said Emmanuel Marsigny, according to the website swissinfo.ch.
Mr Ramadan, a University of Oxford professor whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, was taken into custody on February 2 in connection with charges he raped several women.
To date, five women have accused him of rape – three in France, one in the United States and one in Switzerland.
The latest development relates to the third to accuse him, a French Muslim woman known as Marie.
Mr Ramadan has denied all the claims against him and says they are part of a campaign by his enemies to ruin him.
He maintains that he had no sexual relations with the first two complainants. But when faced with evidence from Marie, he said he did have a relationship with her.
The 45-year-old woman had provided investigators with screenshots of online conversations between her and Mr Ramadan. She also gave them a dress that is allegedly stained with traces of his DNA, swissinfo.ch reported. Mr Marsigny said experts were conducting tests of the samples.
Marie made a formal complaint at the start of March, claiming to have suffered rapes in France, Brussels and London between 2013 and 2014 at the hands of the scholar.
His two initial accusers went to the police in October, both alleging he had raped them in hotel rooms in France.
In a separate development, a medical report ordered by judges involved in the case has confirmed that Mr Ramadan is suffering from multiple sclerosis, but said that he could be treated for the condition behind bars.
In February, a French court dismissed an attempt by the 55-year-old to be released from detention on health grounds.
This week, medics confirmed that he has been suffering with the condition since 2006. However, according to AFP, they said he can remain in detention despite the illness, provided that he receives adequate medical treatment.
Mr Ramadan is in custody in Fleury-Merogis prison, in the French district of Essonne, about 55 kilometres south of Paris.
A medical report for the case judges has confirmed Mr Ramadan has multiple sclerosis