(*English below) MARYAM RAMADAN: «JE NE DÉFENDRAIS PAS MON PÈRE SI JE PENSAIS QU’IL ÉTAIT UN VIOLEUR» Maryam Ramadan, 31 ans, née à Genève mais qui réside habituellement au Qatar, a répondu aux questions du Temps samedi 19 mai alors qu’elle venait, avec sa mère, de rendre visite à son père détenu provisoirement à l’hôpital carcéral de Fresnes. La Cour d’appel de Paris doit se prononcer ce mardi sur une demande de libération de l’islamologue accusé de viol, suite à un précédent refus, le 4 mai. Maryam Ramadan: Nous sommes contents de pouvoir le voir, parce que pendant quarante-cinq jours, à compter de sa mise en détention provisoire début février, on était resté sans nouvelles. C’est par la presse qu’on a appris qu’il avait été admis plusieurs fois en urgence à l’hôpital. Cette période a été très difficile. Là, on peut enfin lui rendre visite, ma mère et moi, trois fois par semaine. On en est heureuse, mais c’est aussi très bouleversant. Physiquement, mon père va mal, il a beaucoup maigri. Il est atteint, comme nous le savons dans la famille depuis 2014, d’une sclérose en plaques. Lui qui est entré en prison en marchant normalement est maintenant handicapé et doit s’aider d’un déambulateur pour se déplacer. Il a de constants et violents maux de tête, de la peine à se concentrer. Il a des crampes insupportables dans les jambes qui le réveillent la nuit et qui l’empêchent de dormir plus d’une ou deux heures. La prise de nombreux médicaments le laisse vaseux. Son état de santé se détériore de jour en jour. MORALEMENT, COMMENT VA-T-IL? Il reste fort. Il le dit lui-même: «Mentalement je suis fort, mais mon physique ne tient pas.» Alors qu’il s’était rendu de son plein gré à la convocation policière du 31 janvier à Paris, il a le sentiment de vivre une profonde injustice. Il est placé à l’isolement complet qui s’apparente à une torture psychologique. Chaque fois qu’il va prendre une douche, personne ne doit se trouver dans les couloirs. Pareil pour la promenade. Du coup, il y est souvent envoyé très tôt le matin. Par exemple, ce matin [samedi 19 mai, ndlr], les gardiens lui ont demandé de choisir entre appeler sa famille ou se rendre à la promenade. Il est déjà seul, il n’allait pas renoncer aux appels. On lui rend tout difficile. La plupart des jours, il reste entre 23h30 et 24h dans sa cellule. Il devrait avoir au moins une séance quotidienne de kinésithérapie, il n’en a même pas trois par semaine. LIT-IL DES LIVRES? Ses migraines constantes ne favorisent pas la lecture. Il a relu l’autobiographie de Nelson Mandela. Comme je sais qu’il aime beaucoup Malcolm X, je lui ai ramené son autobiographie. Il m’a demandé aussi de lui apporter Le Capital au XXIe siècle de Thomas Piketty. Il est en train de lire l’ouvrage d’Eric Dupond-Moretti, Le dictionnaire de ma vie, et puis bien sûr le Coran, tout le temps, d’autant plus en ce mois sacré du ramadan. COMMENT VIVEZ-VOUS PERSONNELLEMENT CETTE DÉTENTION PROVISOIRE? Honnêtement, ma famille et moi, nous n’avons pas été préparés à vivre cela. Mon père n’a jamais rien fait de répréhensible pour qu’on puisse un jour imaginer lui rendre visite dans une prison. Je ressens une grande injustice. Il ne bénéficie pas de la présomption d’innocence: il est dans les faits présumé coupable, alors que ses accusatrices bénéficient d’une présomption de sincérité, ce n’est pas normal. De plus, il est malade. Il faut qu’on reste fort pour pouvoir se battre. https://www.letemps.ch/suisse/maryam-ramadan-ne-defendrais-pere-pensais-quil-etait-un-violeur ***************** MARYAM RAMADAN: "I WOULD NOT DEFEND MY FATHER IF I THOUGHT HE WAS A RAPIST" Maryam Ramadan, 31 years old, born in Geneva but residing in Qatar, answered Le Temp’s questions on Saturday, May 19, when she and her mother were visiting her father temporarily detained at the Fresnes prison hospital. The Paris Court of Appeal is scheduled to rule on Tuesday on a request for release of the Islamologist accused of rape, following a previous refusal on May 4. LE TEMPS: YOU JUST CAME OUT OF A VISIT WITH YOUR FATHER. IN WHAT STATE IS HE IN? Maryam Ramadan: We are happy to be able to see him, because for forty-five days during his pretrial detention in early February, we had no news. It was reported in the press that he had been admitted to the hospital several times in an emergency. This period was very difficult. Now we can finally visit him, my mother and I, three times a week. We are happy to see him, but it is also very upsetting. Physically, my father is not well at all, he has lost a lot of weight. He was diagnosed, as we know in the family since 2014, from Multiple Sclerosis. He who entered prison while walking normally is now handicapped and must use a walker to get around. He has constant and violent headaches and has trouble concentrating. He has unbearable cramps in his legs that wake him up at night and prevent him from sleeping more than an hour or two. Taking many medications leaves him feeling groggy. His health is deteriorating day by day. MORALLY, HOW IS HE? He is staying strong. He says it himself: "Mentally I am strong, but my physique is not holding up." While he voluntarily came to the police convocation on January 31st in Paris, he has the feeling of living a profound injustice. He is placed in complete isolation, which is akin to psychological torture. Every time he takes a shower, no one should be in the corridors. Same to take a walk. As a result, he is often sent there very early in the morning. For example, this morning [Saturday, May 19], the guards asked him to choose between calling his family or going for a walk. He is already alone, he was not going to give up the calls. Everything is being made difficult. Most days, he stays between 23-24 hours in his cell in isolation. He should have at least one daily session of physiotherapy, he does not even have three per week. DOES HE READ BOOKS? His constant migraines do not make reading easy. He re-read Nelson Mandela's autobiography. As I know he likes Malcolm X so much, I brought him back his autobiography. He also asked me to bring him Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century. He is reading Eric Dupond-Moretti’s “The dictionary of my life” and of course the Qu’ran, all the time, especially in this holy month of Ramadan. HOW ARE YOU PERSONALLY HANDLING THIS PRE-TRIAL DETENTION? Honestly, my family and I have not been prepared to live this. My father has never done anything so reprehensible that we would imagine visiting him in a prison. I feel a great injustice. He is not benefitting from the presumption of innocence: he is in fact presumed guilty, while his accusers benefit from a presumption of sincerity, it is not normal. Besides, he's sick. We have to stay strong to fight. THE TARIQ RAMADAN SUPPORT COMMITTEE IN WHICH YOU PARTICIPATE, CONSIDERS THAT THE EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE IS NOT BEING TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. WHAT ARE THEY? Let's talk about the French complainants. Their stories are marked by many inconsistencies. For example, Ms. Ayari, who claims to have stopped contact with my father after the so-called rape, when in fact she later sent him more than 200 messages by a second Facebook account she had opened. "Christelle", who confided in 2009 to a friend that she was trying to harm my father. These and other elements should at least be food for thought for the justice system. But these facts don’t seem to be taken into account. YOUR FATHER IS FACING FOUR COMPLAINTS OF RAPE, THREE IN FRANCE, ONE IN SWITZERLAND, AS WELL AS A COMPLAINT OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ON THE PART OF AN AMERICAN WOMAN. CAN YOU IMAGINE SUCH BEHAVIOR FROM HIM OR DOES IT SEEM COMPLETELY CRAZY TO YOU? It seems completely crazy to me, of course. I have lived with my father for 31 years and have never seen any violence at home. You know how, when you're a child, you push parents to the edge, and when I think about it, I think he gave me one spanking. He is not at all someone that is violent. Even when he is angry, he always favors discussion. So, yes, it seems totally crazy to me. The charges against him are based on allegations without evidence. If there were, they would have already been produced. CAN WE, ON ANOTHER LEVEL, PARDON SPOUSAL INFIDELITY, IF IT WERE TO BE PROVEN BY ONE OF THE PLAINTIFFS, "MARIE" WHO IS SAYS TO HAVE PROOF? For starters, no one should have a trial about morality. It is a question that only concerns my father and my mother. And even if he would have, he is a human being like all of us. This is not a discussion we want to have in the media. Your question is important because it is very revealing: people are confusing the legal vs. the moral aspect. It's important to distinguish the difference between the two. DOES YOUR FATHER'S PRE-TRIAL DETENTION HAVE A POLITICAL DIMENSION AS HIS SUPPORTERS ARE DENOUNCING ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Yes, that's the impression I have. When we see the rejection at the beginning of May by the judges for a release request made by our lawyer, Mr. Marsigny, based on new exculpatory evidence and the aggravated health situation of my father. We can only but question this. The two expert doctors appointed by the judges considered that his health was compatible with his continued detention, but only under certain conditions. However, the Fresnes prison where he is incarcerated is not able to provide the care which was a condition of his detention on remand such as regular physiotherapy sessions. So why keep him in jail if not for political reasons? IF YOU HAD TO INTRODUCE YOUR FATHER, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT HIM? As you know, he is a lecturer who travels a lot. My two brothers, my sister and I lived with the fact that he was often absent. But at the same time, he has always favored quality over the amount of time shared with us. We were lucky to have him as a teacher; all school holidays were spent together. He is a father who always wants us to know the world, to travel. It opened my mind about different cultures, religions, the need to be close to the poor. By traveling with him, especially in predominantly Muslim majority countries where women are often deprived of rights, I began to study in the field of gender studies and got a master's degree. I would not be defending my father, a so-called rapist, if I thought he was one.