The grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood founder, Tariq Ramadan admits to sex games
Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic
studies, said on Monday he had engaged in “sex games” with two women in France
who accuse him of rape, but said the “submissive-dominant” relationships were
consensual.
It is the first time in the near one-year long case
that the Oxford University professor, who has taken a leave of absence from the
British institution, admits to having had sexual relations with the plaintiffs.
“He can finally speak freely, and he’s relieved,”
his lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, told reporters after Ramadan, the grandson of the
founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, was heard by investigators in Paris.
Ramadan faced one of the accusers, named only as
“Christelle”, during a 10-hour confrontation on September 18.
The woman, an Islam convert who suffers from
disabilities arising from a car accident, says Ramadan raped her in October
2009 in a hotel room in Lyon, southeastern France.
Ramadan said he had “relations akin to sex games of
the submissive-dominant kind, but always in a consensual and knowing way,” his
lawyer said.
“It has been one year now that Mr Ramadan’s
defendants have been playing tricks to save his cause. But the truth is that he
lied from the beginning of this case by denying he had sexual relations and
that it took one year to confess,” Jonas Haddad, a lawyer for the other
plantiff, Henda Ayari, told Reuters.
“Will it take him another year to confess the rest?”
he said.
Ramadan’s lawyer said a series of text messages
found in the two women’s mobile phones showed the relations were consensual. He
filed a request for Ramadan, in custody since he was notified of the French
investigation on February 2, to be freed.
Married with four children, Ramadan is a grandson of
Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna. He enjoys a substantial following
among young Muslims and has challenged French restrictions on wearing veils.
He also faces a third criminal complaint for rape by
a Swiss woman in Geneva.
