The Paris Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced Swiss Islamic theologian Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in prison for raping three women.
Ramadan was found guilty on all counts in the trial, which is one of the most symbolic of the “MeToo” movement in France.
Ramadan, 63, was sentenced in absentia because he currently lives in Switzerland.
The court found that he raped three women in Lyon and Paris between 2009 and 2016. He spent 10 months in pre-trial detention.
Ramadan consistently denied the allegations, but later admitted to having contact with these women, who described him as manipulative, domineering and brutal.
France has issued a warrant for his arrest. After serving his sentence, he is expected to be banished from France for good. Ramadan will also have to pay compensation to the victims.
The sentence is fully in line with what the prosecutors requested, but will only be carried out when Ramadan is taken to France. As Switzerland does not extradite its citizens, he is not yet available to French judicial authorities.
Ramadan was convicted in Switzerland in August 2024 in another case of rape and sexual assault. He was also fined in France for disclosing the identity of one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
Although court orders required Ramadan to stay near Paris, he left France, citing hospitalization in Geneva for multiple sclerosis as an excuse.
Two court-appointed medical experts later confirmed that Ramadan’s health allowed him to stand trial, but he continued to evade trial.
Ramadan is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Egyptian “Islamic Brotherhood” and a propagandist of European Muslim identity. He has gained popularity among young European Muslims with immigrant roots.
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