JEDDAH: A rape and sexual assault complaint was filed on Friday in France against Swiss Islamist and Prof. Tariq Ramadan by Henda Ayari, reported Agence France Press (AFP).
Tariq Ramadan is the grandson of Egyptian scholar Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group deemed terrorist by a number of Arab and Muslim countries.
The complaint, filed with the Rouen prosecutor’s office in northwest France by Ayari, now a secular activist, detailed criminal acts of rape, sexual assault, violence, harassment and intimidation, according to a document reviewed by AFP.
The Liberators Association, of which Ayari is president, said on Facebook that she was “a victim of something very serious several years ago,” but did not reveal the name of her aggressor for safety reasons.
In her book “I Chose to be Free,” published in November 2016, she described her aggressor as Zubair. She wrote that she met him at his hotel in Paris after he had given a lecture.
“I will not give precise details of the acts he has done to me. It is enough to know that he has benefited greatly from my weakness,” Ayari wrote.
She added that when she rebelled against him at one point, he screamed at her, insulted her, slapped her and treated her violently.
“I confirm today, that the famous Zubair is Tariq Ramadan,” Ayari wrote on Facebook. Her lawyer Jonas Haddad said she did not report the assault earlier out of fear.
“After revelations over the past few days of rape and sexual assault claims in the media, Henda has decided to say what happened to her and take legal action,” he told AFP.
On Saturday, Ramadan denied Ayari's allegations and expressed his intension to sue for “slanderous denunciation” on Monday, his lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, told French media.
Muslim Brotherhood founder's grandson accused of rape, sexual assault
Muslim Brotherhood founder's grandson accused of rape, sexual assault
US accuses South Africa of harassing US officials working with Afrikaners
- The State Department alleged that Americans had also been briefly held in the raid, which it said the United States “condemns in the strongest terms.”
WASHINGTON: Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.
The State Department said that passport information of US officials was leaked and warned in a statement that “failure by the South African government to hold those responsible accountable will result in severe consequences.”
South Africa replied that the allegation was unsubstantiated and rejected “any suggestion of state involvement in such actions.”
The accusations came after South Africa arrested and expelled Wednesday seven Kenyans brought in by the US government to assist in processing Afrikaners seeking to move to the United States.
President Donald Trump’s administration has claimed Afrikaners are victims of discrimination and even “genocide,” which the Pretoria government strongly denies.
South Africa said the Kenyans arrested at a processing center on Tuesday were on tourist visas that did not allow them to work — the type of violation seized on by Trump as he carries out mass deportations from the United States.
The State Department alleged that Americans had also been briefly held in the raid, which it said the United States “condemns in the strongest terms.”
It added that officials’ passport information had been made public.
So-called doxxing, or revealing personal information, “is an unacceptable form of harassment” and puts people in harm’s way, the State Department said.
It did not immediately provide further details on the purported incident.
‘Seeking clarity’
South Africa “noted an unsubstantiated allegation regarding the private information” and was seeking clarity from Washington, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said later.
“We categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions,” it said in a statement.
The government has already said no US officials were arrested in Tuesday’s raid, which was not carried out at a diplomatic site.
The seven Kenyan nationals who were expelled had violated South African law by working without the correct permits, the foreign ministry repeated.
“The government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law,” it said.
Trump has repeatedly attacked South Africa’s post-apartheid government over what he calls persecution of the Afrikaners, an allegation that had gained ground online with the far-right.
He has been increasingly open on his desire to rid the United States of immigrants other than white Europeans and all but ended the once-generous US refugee resettlement program, which now only accepts Afrikaners among all the world’s people.
The State Department in a separate statement Thursday confirmed it did not invite South Africa to an initial meeting on planning next year’s Group of 20 summit, the first time a member of the bloc is being excluded.
