Ariq Ramadan indicted for rape of a fifth woman -
UGO AMEZ / SIPA
Swiss Islamologist Tariq Ramadan was indicted on Thursday for the rapes of Mounia Rabbouj, one of his first accusers, we learned from the accused's lawyers.
These facts date back to 2013-2014.
Mounia Rabbouj is the fifth woman for whom Tariq Ramadan is indicted for rape.
This indictment had been requested in the spring of 2018 by the Paris prosecutor's office, but the judges had so far suspended their decision on the case of this former escort-girl.
His testimony at the time had led Tariq Ramadan, then detained, to admit for the first time extra-marital relations, according to him "consented".
A "strong turning point"
"There is no new element" in the investigation for two years, "it is a formal indictment to be able to organize the confrontation soon", commented the defense lawyers, Mes Nabila Asmane, Ouadie El Hamamouchi and Philippe Ohayon, at the end of the interrogation at the Paris court.
"It is not the word of Tariq Ramadan against that of this woman, it is this woman against her own serious and concordant lies", they added.
For the plaintiff's lawyer, "it is obviously a satisfaction" and a "strong turning point".
"The investigations have shown how much my client's words were as reliable as they were constant", responded Maître Eric Morain.
"The code of criminal procedure does not recognize formal indictments: only serious and concordant clues, which the judges have now fully observed", he replied.
She accuses him of having raped her 9 times
The testimony of Mounia Rabbouj, known to have been the protagonist of the so-called Carlton procuring for procuring, alongside former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn, played an important role in the affair.
This 47-year-old woman had filed a complaint in March 2018 against the Muslim intellectual, accusing him of having raped her nine times in France, London and Brussels, from 2013 to 2014.
Tariq Ramadan, 58, was then imprisoned since his indictment on February 2, 2018 for the rapes denounced by two first accusers.
Forced by Mounia Rabbouj's story, the Islamologist admitted, on June 5, 2018, adulterous relationships with this woman and former mistresses who testified.
He had submitted more than 300 videos and more than 1,000 photos to convince the judges that it was a consensual relationship, and the magistrates had not then indicted him.
Judicial review has recently been eased
A third and a fourth indictment, for suspicion of rape on two other women in 2015 and 2016, were pronounced last February against the Islamologist.
His judicial control was recently lightened, with a score twice a month at the police station, and the authorization to comply with summons from the Swiss justice.
Rape proceedings, parallel to the French proceedings, have been open in Geneva since 2018.
Justice
Tariq Ramadan case: The theologian confronted with his Swiss accuser among French judges
Justice
Rape accusations: Tense face-to-face between Tariq Ramadan and one of his accusers in court
Indictment
Rape
Investigation
Islam
Justice
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