Nice / Faiza bin Muhammad / Anatolia
** Swiss Islamic thinker Tariq Ramadan in an interview with Anatolia:
– He revealed the plans of some Western personalities in order to discredit him and destroy his career
– He said that all of the complainants against him are familiar with each other, which reinforces the hypothesis of a “plot”.
– He indicated that had it not been for his faith and ideas, the cases brought against him would not have been based
The Swiss thinker and Islamic researcher of Arab origins, Tariq Ramadan, said that the charges of rape and sexual coercion that pursued him are the result of targeting based on “the beliefs and ideas he represents.”
This came in an interview with Anadolu Agency, during which he revealed his life after a Swiss court acquitted him last May of charges of “rape and sexual coercion” in an incident dating back to 2008, as it ruled that there was no evidence against him.
Ramadan, 60, obtained an acquittal after 5 years, and his case was the subject of constant controversy, especially since he is still awaiting a possible trial in France, where 4 other women accuse him of “rape.”
Ramadan described what he was facing as “a political issue before it was a legal one,” and said, “I had the impression sometimes that they did not prosecute me as just a man, but rather it was related to what I represented.”
He explained that if this case had not been linked to Tariq Ramadan’s name, “it would not have existed in the first place,” noting that the Swiss court before which he appeared was keen to judge him “only as a Swiss citizen, and to forget his name.”
And he talked about that some of the personalities who have leveled severe accusations against him are “close to the extreme right that supports Marine Le Pen (leader of the right-wing movement in France).”
As such, Ramadan saw that he was being targeted as a “Muslim figure who acknowledges the presence of Europeans who believe in the Islamic faith.”
Ramadan strived throughout his trial and the accompanying procedures to reveal what he described as the “plot” of the plaintiffs against him, and their association with French writer Caroline Forest, an advocate of secular orientation and author of a book critical of Tariq Ramadan in particular.
He continued: “It turns out that all the plaintiffs know each other, and that they are in contact with my ideological enemies Caroline Forest, Alain Soral and photographer Jean-Claude Alfassi, who seek to destroy my career and discredit me.”
According to the Islamic thinker, during the trial that took place in early March in Geneva, it became clear that the Swiss complainant “was also in contact with the complainants against him in France and Caroline Forest,” which the latter denied in a television interview.
The Swiss plaintiff, who says she lives under threat and uses the pseudonym “Brigitte”, was about 40 years old when the alleged incidents took place some 15 years ago.
relationship with Muslim societies
Since obtaining the acquittal, Ramadan has doubled his use of Internet platforms, and has returned again to his life on social networks, and even to training sessions that provide him with a certain closeness to those who wish to benefit from his knowledge.
When asked about the nature of his relationship with Muslims, he considered that the criticism directed at him and questioning his moral values and knowledge “was a clear political strategy in order to discredit him and isolate him from Muslims.”
Ramadan stressed that this strategy “failed” to distance him from the Muslim community, and left its supporters with “disappointment.”
Indeed, Ramadan continues lessons in a richer manner than it was before, even if the number of attendees for the events and gatherings he attends is “less” than before.
He pointed out that there is an urgent need for a media personality that Muslims can identify and listen to, in light of the French state’s policy towards the Muslim minority, which he described as “worrying” in particular.
He concluded by saying, “I will not stop because I have dedicated my life to delivering this message.”
Ramadan holds a PhD from the University of Geneva, and was a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom until November 2017, and a guest professor at other universities in a number of countries.
It is reported that in the context of his case in France, Ramadan was temporarily imprisoned for 9 months in 2018, but he was released in November of the same year. He has been under judicial control since then.
One of the legal conditions imposed on him is to reside in France, but he obtains exceptional permission to leave to go to Switzerland in the context of the case that ended with his acquittal.
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