Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan was summoned for questioning by a Geneva prosecutor after a new accusation of sexual assault surfaced from a complaint filed in 2018.
The new complaint accuses the professor of Islamic studies of “rape” and “sexual coercion” and dates back to 2008, according to French media sources.
Already facing multiple indictments on rape and sexual assault from four separate cases, the Geneva prosecutor was forced to question Ramadan at a Paris court on Thursday because he is not allowed to leave French territory.
The new hearing, which lasted three hours and ended at midday, did not ultimately lead to an indictment.
One of Ramadan’s lawyers, Pascal Garbarini, appeared optimistic when speaking to the media after the questioning had concluded.
“Mr. Ramadan’s hearing went very very well, there is no indictment, of course, the investigation is continuing,” Garbarini said.
“Mr. Ramadan was very precise and made a very detailed statement which I think had a very positive effect,” he added.
In February 2018, Ramadan was indicted in France for “rape” and “rape of a vulnerable person,” following complaints filed by two women. The first accusation stems from an alleged incident in Paris from 2012, while the accuses Ramadan of a 2009 rape in Lyon.
Two additional charges were later added after a pair of women came forward to accuse Ramadan of separate sexual assaults stemming from encounters from 2015 and 2016.
