Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan listens to his lawyers during a press conference in Paris on September 30, 2025. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan was sentenced on Wednesday, March 25, to 18 years in prison by a Paris criminal court for the rape of three women.
The verdict marks the latest fall from grace for the former Oxford University professor, who faces a string of rape allegations in Switzerland and France and has already been convicted in the former.
A charismatic yet controversial figure in European Islam, Ramadan has always maintained his innocence.
While he had been on trial in Paris since March 2 for rapes allegedly committed against three women between 2009 and 2016, Ramadan did not appear in court in person. His lawyer cited a "flare-up" of multiple sclerosis requiring hospitalization in Geneva to explain his absence – but this was rejected by a court-ordered medical assessment.
