PARIS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Tariq Ramadan, a well-known Islamic studies scholar and Oxford professor, was charged with rape in France Friday.
The 55-year-old Swiss national faces two charges of raping two women in French hotels in 2009 and 2012. Following the accusations, he had been ordered to remain in custody in France.
A preliminary probe was opened in October 2017 after the two women filed complaints.
Ramadan was arrested on Wednesday by French police and after 48 hours of questioning, a judge Friday ordered him to be held in custody.
If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison for rape, and up to 20 years for raping a vulnerable person.
The Geneva-born professor has denied the accusations that forced him to take leave of absence from Oxford since November 2017.
Ramadan is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian imam who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1920s. Ramadan has written several books on Islam and the Western world which, according to experts, project a moderate and tolerant view of Islam.
