Swiss researcher and thinker Tarek Ramadan said that the attack he is facing in the West is mainly caused by the fact that he is French and European with a completely independent Islamic faith.

After being acquitted of the rape charge that haunted him for many years, Ramadan appeared during an interview with BFM on Monday to explain his point of view, saying, "Everyone used to present me as the cleric, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna, but the truth is the opposite."

Tariq Ramadan: "Je suis attaqué parce que je défends une certaine façon d'être Français, Européen, de confession musulmane totalement autonome" pic.twitter.com/UD6WAFhK5n

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) May 29, 2023

"I was attacked because I defend a certain point of view: how to be a French Muslim in a way that is independent of the view that the authority is trying to impose on the Muslim community," he Ramadan said.

On Wednesday, a Geneva court acquitted preacher Tarek Ramadan of "rape and sexual coercion" and ruled there was no evidence against him and compensation estimated at 154,<> euros.

The accusations against him by a Swiss convert to Islam relate to rape at a Geneva hotel in 2008, and the 60-year-old Ramadan has denied the accusations from the outset.

Acquitté, finalement

Depuis cinq ans, je me bats contre de fausses accusations. Les medias et le jugement populaire m'ont présenté comme un violeur, un agresseur et/ou un prédateur.

Aujourd'hui, la justice suisse vient de reconnaître non seulement mon innocence, mais également... pic.twitter.com/roomuGzGhF

— Tariq Ramadan (@TariqRamadan) May 24, 2023

Ramadan is being tried in similar cases before the French judiciary, but denies any sexual act and says he is the victim of "political intrigue".

Ramadan holds a doctorate from the University of Geneva, where he wrote a thesis on the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna, his maternal grandfather.

Ramadan was Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom until November 2017 and a visiting professor at universities in Morocco, Malaysia, Japan and Qatar.

Ramadan is popular in European Muslim circles but is particularly controversial among secularists who see him as a supporter of political Islam.