Tariq Ramadan to face court for raping woman just after dismissal from EUR

Former EUR visiting professor Tariq Ramadan was taken into custody on Wednesday on the suspicion of having raped two Frenchwomen. One of the two rapes is alleged to have taken place in the year during which Ramadan was dismissed from Erasmus University.

The Swiss academic, who served as a visiting professor to EUR between 2007 and 2009, was accused of rape at the end of last year as part of the French version of the #metoo campaign, called #balancetonporc (‘Expose your pig’). At the time, French author Henda Ayari claimed to have been raped by Ramadan in a hotel in Paris in 2012. Just after she made the accusation, a second woman reported to the police, alleging that she was raped by Ramadan in a hotel in Lyon in 2009.

In addition, a Swiss newspaper has reported that Ramadan was guilty of sexual intimidation of underage girls in the 1980s and 1990s, when he was a teacher at a secondary school.

Temporary leave of absence

Ramadan denies the accusations. However, he has taken a temporary leave of absence from his current employer, Oxford University. He has accused Ayari of defamation.

The Islamist thinker served as a visiting professor to Erasmus University and as an assimilation consultant to the Rotterdam municipal authorities from 2007 to 2009. In 2009 he was dismissed by both organisations because he had worked for a pro-Iranian broadcasting company in London without informing his employers of this fact. Ramadan appealed his dismissal and a court of law eventually found in his favour regarding his dismissal from EUR.