Tariq Ramadan has only recently started claiming that he has multiple sclerosis, after he was denied bail on the rape charges he is facing. How convenient that he would suddenly turn out to be too ill to remain behind bars.
He should not be released. One of his accusers has already been beaten and threatened. And the charges against him are extremely serious. One accuser said he subjected her to “blows to the face and body, forced sodomy, rape with an object and various humiliations, including being dragged by the hair to the bathtub and urinated on.”
Another one of his accusers said he told her he was raping her because she didn’t wear a hijab.
“Swiss theologian Tariq Ramadan to remain in detention,” translated from “Le théologien suisse Tariq Ramadan reste en détention,” Franceinfo, May 22, 2018:
Tariq Ramadan, incarcerated since his indictment on February 2, 2018 for rape, is to remain in detention, the investigating chamber of the Court of Appeal of Paris decided on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, according to Master Francis Szpiner, the lawyer of the third complainant in the file.
Incarcerated for three months in connection with an investigation for rape and aggravated rape, the Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan challenged the refusal to release him in court on Tuesday morning, May 4, 2018. He formally denies the facts with which he is charged.
To avoid any risk of pressure on the victims
Tariq Ramadan’s lawyer was asking for his release on the grounds that his state of health – the theologian is suffering from multiple sclerosis – is not compatible with his detention at the Fresnes remand prison. The court of appeal had denied Tariq Ramadan’s presence at Tuesday’s hearing.
Tariq Ramadan’s lawyer had again proposed a release under judicial supervision of his client, with delivery of his Swiss passport and a deposit of 150,000 euros, or with an electronic bracelet.
On May 4, 2018, the liberty and detention judge refused to grant him this release under judicial supervision to avoid any risk of pressure on the victims, and to guarantee his presence in France.