French court denies Tariq Ramadan request to drop rape charges

PARIS: French judges have rejected a request by lawyers for Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan to drop charges of raping two women, a source close to the inquiry told AFP on Friday. Ramadan, a Swiss citizen and Oxford University professor whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, has been held since February on charges that he raped two women in France. Investigative judges have already denied several requests for bail. The request came after the first accuser, Henda Ayari, was questioned with Ramadan present for the first time by judges on Thursday. Lawyers for both said judges uncovered discrepancies on the dates of the alleged assaults in Ayari’s account, which prompted the request to drop the charges.