Victory for Ramadan in defamation case against journalists
Published: Thursday, Nov 30th 2023, 15:50
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A journalist has been found guilty of defaming the Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan by the Geneva Court of Appeal. He was sentenced to a conditional fine of 90 daily rates. The verdict is likely to be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
The Geneva-based news portal Léman Bleu first reported on the decision in the appeal proceedings, which took place in mid-October, on Thursday. In the ruling, the judges came to the conclusion that the journalist had "gone too far". "As it was not possible for him to base his allegations on a sufficient foundation, he should have refrained from making them", the Geneva Criminal Court of Appeal and Revision stated.
Ramadan's legal team expressed its satisfaction with the court's decision. "This judgment confirms that our client was defamed and lays the foundation for the duties of a serious journalist, which have been sacrificed here," reads a statement from Yaël Hayat, Guerric Canonica and Théo Bada.
The journalist accused of libel and defamation was acquitted in the first instance by the Geneva police court. Ramadan was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings and legal fees.
The case is now likely to continue before the Federal Supreme Court. According to Nicolas Capt, the journalist's lawyer, "at first glance, an appeal seems unavoidable".
The proceedings relate to an article that appeared in the French weekly newspaper "Le Point" in 2018. Citing a report by the Geneva State Council, the journalist wrote that Ramadan had had sexual relations with some of his female pupils during his time as a teacher at a Geneva school.
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