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Join on Telegram By Hajare El Khaldi
Rabat – The Appeal Court in Paris has denied the release of Tariq Ramadan on Thursday, February 22, after a medical report indicated that Islamic theologian’s health was “compatible with his detention.”
The renowned Swiss Islamic scholar, grandson of Hassan Al Banna the founder of the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt, has been in custody at the Fleury-Merogis prison since February 2 for two separate accusations of rape.
After he was taken to hospital for treatment of multiple sclerosis on Friday, his lawyers claimed that his health deteriorated since his detainment, and argued that his condition is incompatible with imprisonment in an attempt to attain his release under bail.
The lawyers have offered the delivery of his Swiss passport, paying a deposit of 50,000 euros, and the obligation of presenting every day at the police station.
The French court ordered a new medical report and found, on Monday, his health to be compatible with his continued detention. The medical expert also said that Ramadan’s pathologies are unlikely to severely deteriorate.
Ramadan fully denies the accusation and deemed them to be part of a “campaign of lies launched by adversaries”, which is a sentiment that was shared by his supporters.
The scholar’s supporters have been outraged by his confinement, and claim that the entire matter is part of a “conspiracy” against one of the few celebrated figures of Islam in Europe.
On the other hand, others claim that the revelation of Ramadan’s health condition last week as an explicit media strategy by his supporters, and argue that the sharing of the medical news coincided with the release of a video of Ramadan’s wife, Iman Ramadan, in which she claimed that her husband has been wronged by the French justice system.
French newspaper Liberation claimed that the release of the new information displays “a diabolically efficient sense of timing by Ramadan’s supporters.”
The theologian’s accusers, French activist and author Henda Ayari and another woman that was described by the French media as a Muslim convert suffering from a disability, have both declared to the investigators that they have been lured by the “spiritual master” who mentally controlled them, and described appointments that have, allegedly, turned into violent coerced sexual intercourse.
If the charges are confirmed, the scholar will face up to 15 years in prison on the charge of rape, and up to 20 years on the separate charge of rape of a vulnerable person.
