the general prosecutor’s office requires the dropping of charges in three of the four rape cases

The public prosecutor’s office requires the dropping of charges against Tariq Ramadan in three cases and a trial for a fourth rape case. The hearing will take place before the investigating chamber on March 29.

The public prosecutor’s office has requested that proceedings be dropped in three of the four rape cases concerning Tariq Ramadan, franceinfo learned on Thursday March 7 from a source close to the case, confirming information from BFMTV. A trial is requested in the fourth case.

Last July, the investigating judge ordered the indictment before the Paris criminal court for suspicion of rape committed between 2009 and 2016 against four women. But Tariq Ramadan’s lawyers appealed this decision. Finally, the public prosecutor’s office requested the dropping of charges in three cases and a trial for a fourth. The indictment was signed Thursday morning.

“Incomprehensible” denounces the lawyer of three plaintiffs

The rape case for which the public prosecutor’s office wishes to continue the prosecution is that concerning “Christelle” [nom d’emprunt], Franceinfo learned from a source close to the matter. The latter accuses Tariq Ramadan of having raped her in a hotel room in Lyon in 2009.

The Tariq Ramadan affair began in October 2017 with complaints from Henda Ayari – who accuses Tariq Ramadan of rape in 2012 – and “Christelle”. Two other women then accused the academic of rape in France, including one in a meeting, in complaints filed in March 2018 and July 2019. Two other complaints were also filed abroad, in Switzerland and the United States. -United. Concerning that in Switzerland, Tariq Ramadan was acquitted during a trial in Geneva. The complainant appealed this decision. In total, the Islamologist was therefore the target of six complaints for acts of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Contacted by franceinfo, lawyer Laura Ben Kemoun, lawyer for “Christelle” but also for two other complainants – for whom the general prosecutor’s office requests the abandonment of the proceedings – believes that the “position of the general prosecutor’s office is quite incomprehensible“. According to her, it “completely dissociates itself even though two investigating judges had pronounced the dismissal” by Tariq Ramadan. She adds : “We will continue to fight so that the investigating chamber does not follow the indictment and that it restores to our clients the status that is theirs and that they can one day see the facts of which they were victims judged” .

“The legal fight continues” believes Tariq Ramadan’s lawyer

For his part, Pascal Garbarini, lawyer for Tariq Ramadan, told franceinfo: “Since the start of the procedure against Tariq Ramadan, I have continued to argue that the complainants’ accusations were not established either by the facts or by an alleged well-timed attempt to save this procedure.” He recalls that “the requisitions of the general prosecutor’s office conclude that the rape prosecutions were dropped in three of the four cases” but that “the legal fight for the innocence of Mr. Ramadan continues” since, he adds: “We still have to convince the investigating chamber, including for the fourth charge.”

The hearing will take place before the investigating chamber on March 29, franceinfo learned Thursday from another source close to the case. The decision will then be deliberated.