The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday, February 1, ruled inadmissible a request from Swiss Islamologist Tariq Ramadan, who contested his conviction in France for broadcasting the name of a woman accusing him of rape.
Tariq Ramadan was sentenced on February 3, 2022 on appeal to a fine for having given the real name of the woman who presents herself in the media as
“Christelle”
and accuses her of having raped her in a hotel room in Lyon in 2009.
The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment of November 2020 and reduced the sentences, sentencing Tariq Ramadan to a fine of 1000 euros (compared to 3000 euros fine, including 2000 suspended in first instance) as well as 2000 euros damages (compared to 5,000 euros in first instance).
On February 7, 2023, the Court of Cassation rejected Tariq Ramadan's appeal.
Badly founded request
Tariq Ramadan then filed an application before the European Court of Human Rights on June 2, 2023, invoking Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights relating to freedom of expression.
In a decision rendered by a chamber of seven judges, the ECHR
“found no reason to depart from the assessment of the domestic courts, which is based on balancing the rights of the applicant and those of the victim”
.
She also underlined the
“moderate”
nature of the amounts of the fine and the damages to which Tariq Ramadan was sentenced, the amounts reduced on appeal
“in particular to take into account the fact that the victim had contributed to his identification”
.
The Court located in Strasbourg declared the application manifestly ill-founded and therefore inadmissible.