Rape-accused Tariq Ramadan’s lawyers request release, claim health reasons

Rape-accused Tariq Ramadan's lawyers have claimed that the Swiss Islamist scholar was suffering from multiple sclerosis and have therefore requested his release under bail.

But an appeals court in Paris which was examining his appeal against his detention on remand ordered an independent medical report on his health situation.

The court refused as well to issue him a special visit permit, according to French outlets quoting his lawyers, outside what the law grants him with in regards to his visit rights.

His lawyers added that Ramadan was carried by an ambulance to court on Thursday and has postponed its decision until Feb. 22.

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Ramadan’s lawyers claim that his health situation is not in line with his detention and that they are requesting his release and that further legal investigation into their client should continue while he is out on bail.

"His state of health worsens, especially since the judges refused yesterday to issue a visit permit to his wife and children," a source close to Ramadan and his family said on Saturday. That same source confirmed that Ramadan was hospitalized.

French authorities say Ramadan is being investigated for raping two women and could be held in long-term custody while the probe continues.

Ramadan, who travels frequently and has written numerous books on Islam and the integration of Muslims in Europe, is being investigated by French authorities because the rapes took place in Paris and Lyon, according to the case documents.

Ramadan is a grandson of Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization listed terrorist in some countries.