Swiss Supreme Court Upholds Tariq Ramadan Rape Conviction

Switzerland's highest court has definitively upheld Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan's conviction for rape and sexual coercion, rejecting his appeal that alleged procedural flaws and arbitrary assessment of evidence. The Geneva Court of Justice had previously sentenced Ramadan to three years in prison, including one year behind bars, for raping a woman in a Geneva hotel in 2008. The supreme court found no violation of the presumption of innocence and dismissed all procedural objections raised by Ramadan. While Ramadan has maintained his innocence, the court's ruling marks the first guilty verdict amid multiple allegations against him in Switzerland and France. Following the decision, Ramadan's lawyers announced plans to contest the verdict before the European Court of Human Rights. The woman who brought the complaint described the ruling as the end of a long legal ordeal.