Academic Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt Hasan al-Banna, has been charged with rape, a judicial source said, and remains in custody.
Ramadan, 55, is being held on charges of rape of a vulnerable person after two women accused him of violently assaulting them in hotel rooms in Lyon and Paris in 2009 and 2012.
He was arrested on Wednesday as part of a preliminary inquiry, and after two days of questioning by investigators, Ramadan was brought before three magistrates who have been assigned to the case which he denies.
Henda Ayari, 41, accused Ramadan of raping her in a Hotel in Paris in 2012, and according to Agence France Presse (AFP), as part of his defense, he has presented investigators with conversations and evidence that could hurt her credibility.
Another woman, referred to as “Christelle”, accused the academic of raping and violently assaulting her in a hotel room in the south-eastern city of Lyon in 2009.
On Thursday, "Christelle" recounted the incidents to the judge in Ramadan's presence, in a three-hour heated testimony during which Ramadan rejected her allegations.
Rejecting her testimony, Ramadan refused to sign the official summary of the account, sources close to the case said. “Both sides maintained their positions,” a legal source said.
She revealed that Ramadan had a small scar on his groin that would not have been noticed except in the case of close contact, a source said.
Police interviewed dozens of people close to both Ramadan and the two women, and examined email and social media exchanges between them.
On his Facebook page on Oct. 28, Ramadan described the allegations as a "campaign of lies" carried out by his "longtime enemies."
In November, Oxford University announced that Ramadan, 55, took a leave of absence from his post as professor of contemporary Islamic studies "by mutual agreement".
Ramadan said in a statement in November: “Contrary to reports in the French-language press, I have taken leave of absence upon mutual agreement with Oxford University, which will permit me to devote my energies to my defense while respecting students’ need for a calm academic environment.”
