A court in Paris has sentenced prominent Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in jail for raping three women, two years after he was given a jail term for a separate rape offence in Switzerland.
The French rape case unfolded in 2017, when two of the three women came forward during the Me Too campaign against sexual abuse and harassment.
Ramadan, a 63-year-old former professor of Islamic studies at St Antony's College in Oxford, did not attend the trial in Paris, although he has always denied the charges.
His lawyers said he was being treated in the Swiss city of Geneva for multiple sclerosis and condemned the trial as a farce.
Judge Corinne Goetzmann told the court that a warrant had been issued for Ramadan's arrest, however Switzerland does not have an extradition treaty with its neighbour.
Ramadan is also facing a permanent ban from French territory.
The court ruled that the 18-year jail term was justified by the extreme seriousness of the acts, stating, Consenting to sex does not imply consenting to any sexual act whatsoever. The judgements reflected the gravity of the allegations.
Leaving court, one of the women involved, Henda Ayari, expressed relief, stating the judges had believed her after nine years of suffering and struggle since she had first made her complaint.
Ayari alleged that Ramadan had assaulted her in 2012, while another accuser claimed he raped her in a hotel in Lyon in 2009. A third victim's allegations stem from an incident in Geneva in 2008.
Ramadan reacted to his conviction by calling for a new trial, insisting health issues had prevented him from attending the court proceedings and claiming that the accusations stem from a political campaign against him.
The court's ruling highlights the ongoing issues surrounding sexual violence, especially in the context of the Me Too movement in France.
