A Swiss court acquitted Islamic studies scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape and sexual coercion on May 24, finding no evidence against the former Oxford University professor.

The academic was also awarded around 151,000 Swiss francs ($167,000) in compensation from the Swiss canton of Geneva over the case.

After the verdict was read in the Geneva Criminal Court, the 60-year-old Swiss scholar smiled and was hugged by one of his daughters.

Ramadan's 57-year-old accuser, identified under the assumed name of "Brigitte", left the courtroom before the end of the verdict.

Her lawyers immediately vowed to appeal the ruling.

Prosecutors had last week called for a three-year sentence against Ramadan. The case was the first time he has been tried for rape, although he risks facing a trial in France on similar charges.

Ramadan rejected the charges and said that he was the victim of a "trap".

Brigitte was in her forties at the time of the alleged assault in 2008. She filed a complaint 10 years later, telling the court she felt emboldened to come forward following similar complaints filed in France.

'Ramadanphobia'

During the trial, the defence insisted on Ramadan's innocence and stressed there was no scientific evidence in the case.

His lawyers also accused Brigitte and the women who have brought charges against him in France of forging links to bring down the Islamic studies scholar, citing "Ramadanphobia".

During his final statements in court last week, Ramadan asked not to be tried on his "real or supposed ideology" and urged the judges not to be "influenced by the media and political noise".

Ramadan was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford until November 2017 and held visiting roles at universities in Qatar and Morocco.

He was forced to take a leave of absence when rape allegations surfaced in France at the height of the "Me Too" movement, over suspected attacks between 2009 and 2016.