Ramadan faces rape accuser in court

PARIS: Prominent scholar Tariq Ramadan was due to face one of his rape accusers in a French court on Tuesday as he seeks bail after seven months in custody on charges he furiously denies.

Ramadan, a frequent TV commentator, was a professor at Oxford University until he was forced to take leave when the rape allegations surfaced at the height of the "Me Too" movement late last year.

The Swiss citizen, whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, was charged in France in February with raping two women in hotels in 2009 and 2012. Swiss prosecutors have also opened an investigation into allegations that he raped a woman in a Geneva hotel in 2008, local media reported on Sunday.

Ramadan, 56, has repeatedly sought bail arguing that being in prison is making it more difficult for him to receive treatment for multiple sclerosis. In a video posted on Facebook on Monday, his son Sami said his father had been "presumed guilty since the start" and that he appeared frail during a recent visit. "He needs assistance and a walking frame to move," he said in the video.