As all this unfolds, it is useful to remember that some people knew for years about Tariq Ramadan’s behavior.
Bernard Godard, who was the “Monsieur Islam” of the French Ministry of the Interior and knew Ramadan well, said: “That he had many mistresses, that he consulted sites, that girls were brought to the hotel at the end of his lectures, that he invited them to undress, that some resisted and that he could become violent and aggressive, yes, but I have never heard of rapes, I am stunned.”
Why didn’t Godard act, knowing that “some” of the women whom Tariq Ramadan “invited to undress…resisted and that he could become violent and aggressive”? You know the answer: “Monsieur Islam” was afraid of being smeared as an “Islamophobe.” Tariq Ramadan’s entire rise to positions of influence and power can be attributed solely and wholly to his pose as a “Muslim reformer,” and to the Western intelligentsia’s avid desire to showcase such people in order to show that they are not “Islamophobic,” and are on board with the diversity/multiculturalism project. His rise certainly cannot be attributed to his wisdom and insight.
Ramadan is extremely clever and sophisticated, but he is also a pious, believing Muslim. In Islam, it is the woman’s responsibility to cover herself and thereby remove the man’s temptation. If she fails to do so and he sexually assaults or even rapes her, it’s her fault. Moreover, according to Islamic law, a woman’s testimony is not admissible in cases of sexual crime, zina, even if she is the victim. Thus Tariq Ramadan always knew that as far as Islam went, he could deny the charges, and that would be that. And if a woman ever threatened to go to the secular courts, there were ways to deal with that as well, as one of his accusers recounted: “Two years later he called me to a hotel in the suburbs and then threatened me that he had compromising things on me.” It will be interesting to see how he strikes back against this prosecution, and strike back he certainly will.
“Tariq Ramadan handed over to Paris prosecution department,” Al Arabiya, February 2, 2018:
French police have been granted another 48 hours to question Islamic Studies Professor, Tariq Ramadan, and the academic has been handed over to Paris Prosecution department, news reports have revealed.
The British Express newspaper, quoting a judicial source, confirmed on Thursday that Prof Ramadan’s custody had been extended for a further 48 hours in order to give Paris police more time to question the suspect.
Following this period, he should either be freed, formally charged, or made an “assistant witness”, meaning police do not believe he committed an offence, the report revealed.
Ramadan was arrested on Wednesday during a preliminary investigation after two women accused him of rape and sexual assault last October.
French writer and feminist activist Henda Ayari poses during a photo session in Paris, on November 24, 2017. (AFP)
Slander complaintThe report said that Prof Ramadan took a leave of absence from Oxford after the allegations came to light but has vehemently denied raping the two women. He has also filed a complaint for slander against feminist author and former Salafist Henda Ayari, who happens to be one of his accusers.
According to the report, Ayari said the sex scandal involving Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had encouraged her to “name and shame” her alleged abuser and file an official complaint with police.
Another woman who has claimed that she was raped by Ramadan said that they met at a bar in Lyon where he told her that a Maghrebi person – who worked at the reception – knew him.
He invited the woman to his room where she claimed that he slapped and then raped her twice. According to Le Monde newspaper, the woman also claims that she has a mark to prove her version of events. According to her version of the story, she escaped from the room next morning.