French police have detained prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan after two women accused him of rape, media reports said. The Swiss academic has denied the allegations.
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Tariq Ramadan was taken into custody at a Paris police station on Wednesday as part of a preliminary investigation "into rape and assault allegations," according to a judicial source quoted by news agencies.
The source said the probe was opened late last year after two women in France filed rape charges against the theologian. The allegations surfaced at about the same time as dozens of women in the United States came forward accusing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
Ramadan, a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, has denied any wrongdoing.
The 55-year-old took a leave of absence from the university in November to contest the allegations against him. He is also seeking to sue one of his accusers, author Henda Ayari, for slander.
Ayari, a former Salafi Muslim turned secular activist and feminist, said Ramadan sexually assaulted her in a Paris hotel room in 2012 when she came to him seeking religious guidance. His second accuser, a disabled woman in her 40s who wished to remain anonymous, accused the scholar of raping her in Lyon in 2009.
Four women in Switzerland have also come forward accusing Ramadan of molesting them when they were teenagers in the 1980s and 90s.
He has called the allegations against him "a campaign of lies launched by my adversaries."
Leading authority on Islam
Ramadan, the grandson of the founder of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement, is widely read in France and is a popular figure among conservative Muslims, although some accuse him of promoting political Islam.
Ramadan has written several books on the integration of Muslims in Europe and is a member of the UK Foreign Office Advisory Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
nm/sms (AFP, Reuters)
French stars divided over #MeToo
An open letter signed by over 100 celebrities, among them Catherine Deneuve, in the newspaper Le Monde has caused an uproar in France, where stars are divided about the role of the #MeToo and #BalancetonPorc actions.
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Catherine Deneuve
Among the signatories of the open letter was Oscar-nominated French star Catherine Deneuve. Already known for her controversial stance toward harassment, Deneuve has said she finds the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc social media actions "excessive." That's after she expressed her support for director Roman Polanski, who is still wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
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Catherine Millet
Modern art expert and editor-in-chief of the magazine Art Press, Catherine Millet was also among the signatories who wrote, "Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cack-handedly, is not — nor is men being gentlemanly a macho attack." Millet is perhaps best known for her book, "The Sexual Life of Catherine M.," a memoir tracing her 30 years in France's swinger scene.
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Ingrid Caven
German-born Chanson singer, Ingrid Caven, added her name to the open letter, which claims that the protest's legitimacy has turned into a "witch-hunt." "Instead of helping women, this frenzy (...) actually helps the enemies of sexual liberty — religious extremists and the worst sort of reactionaries. As women, we do not recognize ourselves in this feminism."
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Brigitte Lahaie
A radio talk show host who got her start in the porn industry in 1976, just a year after it was legalized, Brigitte Lahaie signed the letter, which speaks of a "purifying wave" that knows no limit. "(T)he human being is not monolithic: a woman can in the same day lead a professional team and enjoy being the sexual object of a man without being a 'slut' nor a vile accomplice of the patriarchy."
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#BalanceTonPorc
France's version of #MeToo is #BalanceTonPorc, or "call out your pig." Created by NY-based French journalist Sandra Muller, it essentially invites people to name names — and that involves legal risks. Muller herself was asked by lawyers to delete a tweet in which she named a French executive who had said offensive remarks.
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Ségolène Royal
Prominent feminists quickly responded to the letter signed by Deneuve, saying that it blurred the line between seduction and harassment and in doing so, harmed the "millions of women who suffer from this abuse." Former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal took to Twitter to express her dismay, saying, "It's too bad that our great Catherine Deneuve has signed on to this disconcerting text."
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Emma De Caunes
Among the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of inappropriate behavior is French actress Emma De Caunes. De Caunes said she had met Weinstein for lunch at a Paris Hotel in 2010. She was invited to his hotel room to discuss a project but after he walked out of his bathroom naked with an erection, Caunes fled. "It was like a hunter with a wild animal," she said. "The fear turns him on."
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Florence Darel
In October, actress Florence Darel also came out as having been sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein, telling People magazine that Weinstein pursued her in the mid '90s and then propositioned her in a hotel room while his then-wife, Eve Chilton, was in the room next door. Darcel, who starred in "The Stolen Children" and "Uranus" has also accused other French producers, including Jacques Dorfmann.
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Isabelle Adjani
In October, shortly after the accusations against Harvey Weinstein went public, French actress Isabelle Adjani published an op-ed in the weekly JDD newspaper saying, "(T)his is not a game … When an actress dresses up in a seductive way to get a role, it's not to get raped!" She went on to say that in France, "things are more sneaky" than in the US — but "seduction" cannot be an excuse for assault.
