A Swiss appeals court has convicted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan of rape and sexual coercion. The court overturned a previous acquittal of Ramadan on charges of attacking a woman in a hotel in 2008.
Ramadan, grandson of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt founder Hasan al-Banna, was sentenced to three years in prison, with two suspended. Ramadan denies the charges, which were based on an accusation by an unnamed Swiss woman relating to the incident 16 years ago.
He can appeal the new ruling at a federal court. Ramadan was a leading figure in European Islam and was named among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2004.
