(AFP) Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar held in France since February on charges of raping two women, was released on bail Friday after he persuaded judges he was not a flight threat.
The 56-year-old Swiss academic, who took leave of his teaching post at Oxford University late last year to fight the rape claims, won bail on his fourth request to be freed from Fresnes prison near Paris.
He denies charges he raped a disabled woman identified in media reports as “Christelle” in 2009 and a feminist activist, Henda Ayari, in 2012.
But last month Ramadan was forced to rescind his claim he had no sexual contact at all with the women after an expert recovered 399 text messages between him and “Christelle,” some of which detailed violent sexual fantasies.
