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Paris Court Sentences Tariq Ramadan to 18 Years for Raping Three Women

Swiss policy against extraditing its citizens puts the arrest and transfer in question.

Overview

  • Ramadan, 63, was convicted in Paris on Wednesday, and the court issued an arrest warrant because the term cannot begin until he is detained in France.
  • He skipped the March trial after citing a multiple sclerosis flare-up, but a court doctor found him fit to stand trial and the judge proceeded in absentia behind closed doors.
  • Judges ruled that he raped three women, including a disabled victim known as Christelle, and cited the extreme gravity of violent acts that victims said began consensually and then turned brutal.
  • The sentence carries eight years of post-release supervision, a mandatory treatment order, the loss of certain civil and civic rights for 10 years, and a ban on entering France after the prison term.
  • Enforcement is uncertain because he is in Switzerland, which generally does not extradite its citizens, while French procedure allows him to seek an appeal or a new trial as the years-long saga follows a 2024 Swiss conviction upheld last year; accuser Henda Ayari said the judges finally believed her.