Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Rape by Paris Court

A Paris criminal court sentenced Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in prison on Wednesday for the rape of three women, delivering the verdict in absentia and behind closed doors after a three-week trial that Ramadan did not attend. Presiding judge Corinne Goetzmann found the 63-year-old guilty of rape and rape of a vulnerable person for crimes committed between 2009 and 2016. The court also imposed a permanent ban on Ramadan entering French territory after he serves his sentence, placed him under judicial supervision for eight years, and prohibited him from contacting the victims or distributing works or public statements relating to the offenses. An international arrest warrant has been issued, as the sentence cannot be enforced until Ramadan is arrested on French soil.

Lawyers walk out, calling verdict a "parody of justice" Ramadan's four lawyers abandoned the courtroom during the proceedings, denouncing what they called a miscarriage of justice. His legal team had argued that Ramadan could not attend because he was hospitalized in Geneva due to a worsening of his multiple sclerosis. However, two medical experts appointed by the court certified that his health condition was stable and that he was fit to stand trial, leading judge Goetzmann to order the proceedings to continue without him. Ramadan had also failed to comply with a requirement to remain in the Paris metropolitan area and is believed to be staying in Switzerland. One of his lawyers, Ouadie Elhamamouchi, reacted sharply to the outcome.

„The trial ends as it began: a farce. With the facts being extremely disputed, the severity of the sentence, supplemented by a permanent ban from French territory, reflects a relentless pursuit of Tariq Ramadan.” (The trial ends as it began: a farce. With the facts being extremely disputed, the severity of the sentence, supplemented by a permanent ban from French territory, reflects a relentless pursuit of Tariq Ramadan.) — Ouadie Elhamamouchi via AFP

Since Switzerland does not extradite its own citizens to other countries, it remains unclear how the sentence will be enforced, according to Deutsche Welle.

Victims' accounts: consent that turned violent, a name published in defiance Judge Goetzmann, in detailing the court's reasoning, noted that during investigations and hearings the victims described sexual relations that were initially consensual but evolved aggressively. The first case involved a serious rape with violence against a vulnerable person committed in Lyon in October 2009, when a woman met Ramadan in a hotel bar after one of his lectures and was lured to his room. The second case involved a rape in 2012 in Paris against a former Salafist who became a secular activist, Henda Ayari, who filed a criminal complaint in October 2017 and, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine, triggered a MeToo moment among young Muslim women. A third case involved another woman and events from 2016. In a separate incident, Ramadan was sentenced to a fine after his book "Duty to Truth" disclosed Christelle's real name 84 times despite a judicial prohibition. The trial was held behind closed doors partly because one victim, appearing under the pseudonym Christelle, feared threats and attacks from Ramadan's supporters.

„Consent to sexual acts does not mean that one agrees to every sexual act, no matter of what kind.” — Corinne Goetzmann via SWI swissinfo.ch

Swiss conviction already on record, extradition blocked by citizenship The Paris verdict is not Ramadan's first criminal conviction. A Swiss Geneva Cantonal Court found him guilty in August 2024 of the rape and sexual coercion of a woman he had met in October 2008 at a Geneva hotel, sentencing him to three years in prison with one year suspended. In the summer of 2025, the Swiss Federal Court rejected Ramadan's appeal against that ruling. Ramadan had been on leave from his professorship of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University since the end of 2017, when the sexual assault allegations first surfaced publicly. He is a Geneva-born grandson of Hassan al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Ramadan has continuously denied all accusations and has described himself, in his own words, as the "Dreyfus" of his time, accusing French authorities of Islamophobia.

Key dates in the Tariq Ramadan cases: — ; — ; — ; — ; — ; — ; — ; —

18 (years) — Prison sentence handed down by Paris criminal court

The Ramadan case became one of the most prominent criminal proceedings to emerge from the global wave of sexual assault allegations that gained momentum after 2017. Henda Ayari's complaint in October 2017 was among the first to target a prominent Muslim public figure in France and prompted other women to come forward. Ramadan had for years been a celebrated speaker among France's Muslim immigrant communities, particularly among youth in the banlieues, and held academic posts at Oxford University as well as visiting roles at universities in Qatar and Morocco. His grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1920s, an organization that became one of the most influential Islamist movements worldwide. Ramadan spent ten months in French pretrial detention before being released.