Geneva - (AFP) - Islamic thinker Tariq Ramadan will be tried next year on charges of rape before the Geneva judiciary, in incidents dating back more than 14 years, according to the Swiss Attorney General's office on Monday.

"The Public Prosecution confirms that the indictment has been submitted and that Mr. Tariq Ramadan has been referred to trial before the criminal court. The accused will be tried for rape and sexual coercion," a spokesman, Olivier Fransi, told AFP, confirming information published by Swiss public television.

In this case, the plaintiff, who has been called "Brigitte" in the media, accuses the Islamic thinker, who is now 60 years old, of luring her into a hotel room in Geneva on the evening of October 28, 2008, confirming that she was subjected to violent sexual practices accompanied by beatings and insults.

She converted to Islam after she met him a few months ago during a book signing session, and then during a conference in September. An intimate exchange of correspondence followed on social media. On the day of the accident, she was on a date with Ramadan to drink tea.

Ramadan's lawyer, Gorik Canonica, told AFP in Geneva on Monday that "the Public Prosecution was content with copying the complaint without including anything that would disqualify it. It will be up to the judges to completely acquit Mr. Ramadan, and we are quietly awaiting the trial."

The plaintiff filed a complaint with the judiciary in Geneva in April 2018. The public prosecutor opened an investigation in the same year.

"My client took this procedure and she is worried. She does not feel the desire for revenge, but she feels relieved and regains confidence in the institutions," said the victim's lawyer, Francois Zimray, noting that the verdict will be issued in the first half of 2023.

The investigation progressed slowly because it was not possible to question Ramadan, who was in pretrial detention in Paris on other rape charges. Immediately after his release in November 2018, he was subject to judicial control, which prevented him from leaving France. So the public prosecutor had to obtain the approval of the French judicial authorities to hear his statement in Paris.

This measure was later partially lifted, allowing Ramadan to attend witness hearings in 2020 in Geneva.
Ramadan's lawyers who filed a complaint against "Brigitte" for "slander" indicated that he met the woman but refrained from having sex.

In Paris, the public prosecutor's office in July requested that the Islamic thinker be prosecuted for the rape of four women, allegedly committed between 2009 and 2016. But in August, his lawyers asked for the directives to be suspended, as long as the appeals court did not rule on expert reports that concluded To the "effect" of Ramadan on the four plaintiffs.