Tariq Ramadan, a former Oxford professor and Islamic scholar, will be tried in his absence in Paris next week on charges of raping three women after the court rejected his claim to be too ill to attend in person.
Corinne Goetzmann, the presiding judge, issued an immediate arrest warrant and ordered the trial to go ahead after medical experts reported to the court that Ramadan, 63, who is based in Switzerland, was fit enough to sit through the four-week trial. The proceedings will be held in camera, without attendance by the public or media.
