The appellate and revision criminal court overturns the first-instance judgment in the Tariq Ramadan trial, reveals RTS. In its view, the Islamic scholar raped Brigitte in a Geneva hotel in 2008, and he is sentenced to 3 years in prison, including one year of actual incarceration. Tariq Ramadan will appeal to the Federal Court.
It is a thunderbolt. In a highly anticipated decision, the Geneva judges of the second instance condemn Tariq Ramadan for the rape over fifteen years ago in Geneva of the woman whom the media calls Brigitte.
The appeal trial of the Islamic scholar took place from May 27 to 29, 2024, and the verdict was received this Tuesday by the parties.
>> Read also: Tariq Ramadan’s defense pleads for acquittal on the last day of his rape trial
The first-instance trial took place a year earlier, in May 2023. Tariq Ramadan had then been acquitted on the grounds of reasonable doubt by the Geneva Criminal Court. According to Véronique Fontana, the victim’s lawyer, this doubt has now been lifted thanks to a new appreciation of the evidence.
“There has been a new assessment of the testimonies, expert opinions, and new documents that have been brought forward,” she explains in the Forum program. “And in fact, there is no doubt. And when there is no doubt, we condemn.”
>> The details from Fabiano Citroni in the 19h30:
The appellate judges delivered their verdict in the Tariq Ramadan case. Analysis with Fabiano Citroni / 19h30 / 1 min. / Tuesday at 19:30
Several consistent testimonies
In its statement, following the information revealed by RTS, the Court of Justice specifies that the Criminal Appeal and Revision Chamber “found that several testimonies, certificates, medical notes, and opinions from private experts align with the facts reported by the complainant.”
The Criminal Appeal and Revision Chamber, in its ruling, characterizes Tariq Ramadan’s misconduct as “very serious.” The Islamic scholar imposed sexual acts on his victim and other sexual acts, “acting in a brutal, violent manner.”
>> Listen to the segment from 12h30: Initially acquitted, Tariq Ramadan is ultimately convicted in appeal for rape by Geneva justice / 12h30 / 1 min. / Tuesday at 12:33
No regrets
The judges also reproached Tariq Ramadan for persisting in contesting the facts, retreating “behind explanations aimed at discrediting the victim,” and failing to express any regret. “His actions appear all the more reprehensible as he presents himself as a man of good, of values,” the Court further writes in its ruling.
Tariq Ramadan benefited from the mitigating circumstance of the elapsed time. His declining health, as he suffers from multiple sclerosis, was also taken into account by the judges. Consequently, the actual prison sentence was reduced by six months.
The ruling of the Criminal Appeal and Revision Chamber can be appealed to the Federal Court within 30 days. In the 12h30, lawyer Yaël Hayat, who defends Tariq Ramadan with her colleague Guerric Canonica, stated that the defense will now wait for “the Federal Court to be the ‘arbiter’ in this case and to ‘restore the principles of the presumption of innocence, including for Tariq Ramadan.'”
Reaction from Tariq Ramadan’s lawyer following the announcement of his conviction: interview with Yaël Hayat / 12h30 / 1 min. / Tuesday at 12:34
Also invited to Forum, Yaël Hayat asserts that her client is disappointed. “But more than that, there is a kind of indignation. He is an innocent condemned,” the lawyer states. “The case contains such flaws, such pitfalls, that there is only one possible reading at this stage: that Tariq Ramadan has been convicted because his name is Tariq Ramadan. It is the condemnation of a name, not the condemnation of an act,” she adds.
The complainant relieved
For the lawyers of “Brigitte,” Robert Assaël and Véronique Fontana, “the truth has finally triumphed.” The ruling of the Criminal Appeal and Revision Chamber “sweeps away all the fanciful arguments of the defendant, who has incessantly sought to tarnish and discredit the victim to preserve his already well-damaged image,” they added.
“Unlike the Criminal Court, the appellate jurisdiction held dignified, balanced debates and listened to all parties,” emphasized the two lawyers. They clarified that “Brigitte” was relieved by this verdict, paying tribute to “her courage, resilience, and exceptional determination.”
“She has explained the events in the same way every time. One cannot simulate what she experienced,” emphasizes Véronique Fontana. “For a victim, it is very difficult to explain what they went through because re-explaining is reliving. And here, she demonstrated a great authenticity.”
Proceedings reopened in France as well
Yaël Hayat regrets that certain elements were dismissed “for the benefit of only one thing: the complainant’s word.” “Her word has been elevated to proof. This means that this single word was given absolute evidentiary force, disregarding all other elements of the file that contradicted it,” she says.
In France, the investigation chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal decided, at the beginning of the summer, to refer Tariq Ramadan to the criminal court of Paris for rapes on three women, committed between 2009 and 2016. “It’s the same in France as in Switzerland,” claims Yaël Hayat, who believes that a “battle” is being waged against Tariq Ramadan.
>> Read also: The Paris Court of Appeal refers Tariq Ramadan to trial for rapes
“This is not a matter of justice; it’s beyond that,” she declares. “A justice that condemns without proof and disregards important elements is not justice. We are in something that is outside of that.”
>> Listen to the interviews with lawyers Véronique Fontana and Yaël Hayat in Forum:
Tariq Ramadan convicted on appeal: reactions from the lawyers of both parties / Forum / 9 min. / Tuesday at 19:00
Fabiano Citroni/ebz and the agencies