Ramadan has been adamant from the outset that all the allegations are politically and ideologically motivated
Rabat – In response to the latest rape allegation facing his already bruised reputation, Tariq Ramadan is categorical that the accusation is baseless and part of a further smear campaign.
Months after being released on bail, facing multiple rape accusations, world renowned Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan is yet again grappling with a new rape allegation.
The complainant, a journalist in her fifties, according to reports, has said that she has felt emboldened by the recent stories about Ramadan to break her silence about her experience with the scholar, French media reported yesterday, Sunday August 25.
Ramadan was quick to reply, however.
He suggested that the accusation was merely a ploy to further defame him, quelling the accusation and promising his social media followers that he will soon be telling a full account of the newest allegations. He aims to put to rest what he sees as yet another organized campaign to further tarnish his already suffering image.
“Of course I have been told about the new elements of the investigation and the new complaint that has been abundantly covered by the press this Sunday August 25,” Ramadan wrote in a Facebook post.
“Barely surprising,” he added, appearing to argue, as he has on multiple occasions in the past months, that both the ongoing investigations into the previous rape accusations and the latest complaint come from a place of resentment against his identity and his public visibility as a Muslim intellectual.
“I will be speaking in the coming days to expose the facts with determination, clarity, and serenity—God willing,” concluded the short Facebook post.
Ramadan’s latest alleged victim said that the incident happened on May 23, 2014 in a hotel room in the Sofitel Lyon. She had allegedly gone to the place for an interview with Ramadan, only to be reportedly raped by Ramadan and “one of his staff members.”
“It happened very quickly and it was incredibly violent,” the woman was quoted in news stories as saying. She indicated that she wanted to come out and recount her “painful” experience.
But, she explained, she was subsequently sent numerous threats from both Ramadan and his staff, telling her that going out with the story would be more ruinous to her than it would to Ramadan. “You do not know how powerful I am,” she recalled Ramadan as saying to her in the aftermath of the incident and in a bid to silence her.
Previously, Ramadan was arrested on January 31 of last year after two women came out with rape accusations in late 2017 and filed complaints against him for sexual abuse and rape.
He was then released on bail in November of last year after spending 10 months in detention. Ramadan has been adamant from the outset that all the allegations are politically, ideologically motivated.
