Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan released from French jail

pulse

November 16, 2018 8:18 PM

Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan (pictured April 2010), who took leave of his teaching post at Oxford University late 2017 to fight claims that he had raped two women, won bail on his fourth request to be freed from Fresnes prison near Paris

Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar held in France since February on charges of raping two women, was released on bail Friday after he persuaded judges he was not a flight threat.

The 56-year-old Swiss academic, who took leave of his teaching post at Oxford University late last year to fight the rape claims, won bail on his fourth request to be freed from Fresnes prison near Paris.

He denies charges he raped a disabled woman identified in media reports as "Christelle" in 2009 and a feminist activist, Henda Ayari, in 2012.

But last month Ramadan was forced to rescind his claim he had no sexual contact at all with the women after an expert recovered 399 text messages between him and "Christelle", some of which detailed violent sexual fantasies.

Ramadan subsequently admitted to what he called "consensual" sexual contact.

The 56-year-old has also been accused of raping a woman in Switzerland but has yet to be formally charged in that case.

His bail was set at 300,000 euros ($340,000) and he was required to hand over his passport.

He must report to police in the Paris area once a week and refrain from contacting his accusers.

The allegations against the married father of four, whose grandfather founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, surfaced at the height of the "Me Too" movement late last year.

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