According to the Free Tariq Ramadan Campaign, a court hearing took place today in front of the Appeal judge in France, which has decided to free Professor Tariq Ramadan on bail.
His daughter, Maryam Ramadan tweeted:
“My father’s demand for release has been accepted !!! Hamdula!!#FreeTariqRamadan” [1]
In a statement Prof Tariq Ramadan said:
“Where would I flee to? I have not intention of becoming a fugitive from justice.”
“I will remain in France and defend my honour and my innocence.”
“I would like you to make your decision from your conscience, not because my name is Tariq Ramadan and I’m demonised in this country.”
“I have passed the last 10 months of my life in prison, I am innocent but I have paid with my health. I cannot walk normally anymore.”
Prof Ramadan, a prominent academic followed by millions across the world, was arrested following accusations of rape.
In October 2017, Henda Ayari, a 41-year-old feminist and secularist activist accused the Professor of sexual assault in Paris in 2012. Another accusation followed suit in the same month from an unknown 40-year-old with the alias ‘Christelle’ who claimed the Professor did the same in the south-eastern city of Lyon in 2009. [2]
However the accusations were followed by changed stories, “missed” evidence and later stories close to collapsing. [3] [4] [5]
Questions continued to be asked about the arrest and subsequent treatment of the prominent Muslim Scholar, after being hospitalised during detention. [6] He was arrested in Paris having attended voluntary questioning, which was promptly followed by his arrest. [7]
The case has thus far been littered with controversy and an alarming disregard for standard protocol; in the days following his detention, it was revealed that key evidence was “missed” by prosecution that showed that Prof Ramadan was travelling at the time of one the alleged crimes. [8]
According to Le Point, another accuser’s story was close to collapsing after it was revealed that she was in fact at her brother’s wedding on the night she claimed the Professor raped her. [9]
Furthermore, following his arrest, it later emerged that he was being held in solitarily confinement in a high-security prison, [10] despite there being no clear case for such severe treatment, and was denied bail several times, held under “temporary custody”, which is usually reserved for those considered a flight-risk. [11]
Reports emerged that the professor’s health continued to deteriorate as a result of multiple sclerosis and neuropathy. Despite medical examinations and multiple physicians confirming that his health condition was incompatible with detention, [12] the French authorities held him under solitary confinement and initially denied him visitation rights for the first 45 days. [13]
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Source: www.islam21c.com
Notes:
[1] https://twitter.com/BintBattuta13/status/1063141719665975297
[2] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/tariq-ramadan-custody-whilst-french-prosecutors-criticised-missed-evidence/
[3] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/breaking-tariq-ramadans-accuser-henda-ayaris-story-close-to-collapsing/
[4] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/tariq-ramadans-accuser-changes-story/
[5] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/tariq-ramadan-custody-whilst-french-prosecutors-criticised-missed-evidence/
[6] https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/islamic-scholar-facing-rape-charges-hospitalised-in-france-1814023
[7] http://www.france24.com/en/20180131-france-tariq-ramadan-oxford-islam-scholar-detained-paris-rape-accusations
[8] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/tariq-ramadan-custody-whilst-french-prosecutors-criticised-missed-evidence/
[9] http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/exclusif-tariq-ramadan-accuse-de-viol-la-version-d-henda-ayari-s-effondre-19-07-2018-2237521_23.php
[10] https://www.mabonline.net/the-case-against-tariq-ramadan/
[11] https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-crime-france-professor/muslim-scholar-ramadan-to-remain-in-custody-in-france-idUKKBN1FQ2N8
[12] http://www.france24.com/en/20180218-jailed-islamic-scholar-tariq-ramadan-hospitalised-france
[13] https://www.change.org/p/lib%C3%A9reztariq-ramadan-free-tariq-ramadan/u/22519588
