Tariq Ramadan Cleared in Defamation Case Amid Ongoing Rape Allegations

In its decision, the court dismissed "the plaintiff Henda El Ayari’s claims in their entirety." The 44-year-old woman accuses Tariq Ramadan of raping her in 2012 in Paris, and also reproached him for his statements of September 6, 2019. According to her, Tariq Ramadan had attacked her honor and consideration by declaring on the continuous news channel BFMTV and on the radio RMC to be a victim of a "trap." "A number of women who know each other who change their version four times, I just told you about a person who says she wants to set a trap for me," the Islamist had declared.

The complaint filed by Henda El Ayari also targeted an excerpt from the book "The Duty of Truth" in which Tariq Ramadan writes that she "would have exercised blackmail with a rape complaint against several men in Roanne and Rouen, where she lived." A list of defamations for which Jérémy Kalfon, the plaintiff’s lawyer, was demanding 20,000 euros in damages. "The court did not sufficiently take into account the violence of Tariq Ramadan’s remarks and the impact they could have on El Ayari," reacted the lawyer for the plaintiff, who specifies to AFP that this judgment does not call into question the "fallacious" nature of the Swiss’s remarks.

Tariq Ramadan had said he "totally contests the accusations" against him. His lawyers, Ouadie Elhamamouchi, Nabila Asmane and Alassane Toure, say they are satisfied with the court’s decision. "Other elements proving the fraudulent concertation have appeared in this case. A complaint for forgery, use of forgery and attempted fraud on the judgment has just been filed against a key witness and another complaint for attempted fraud on the judgment will be filed against a second plaintiff," they added.