GENEVA — Switzerland's highest court has upheld the conviction of noted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan for rape and sexual coercion handed down by a regional court last year.

The federal court said Thursday it had rejected Ramadan's appeal, which had alleged procedural flaws and an “arbitrary assessment” of the evidence examined by the appeals court in Geneva. That ruling had overruled an acquittal by a lower court.

The court decision included intimate details of Ramadan allegedly forcing a woman to have sex and preventing her from leaving a Geneva hotel room in October 2008, as well as social media exchanges they had before and after.

Defense lawyer Yaël Hayat on Thursday expressed “huge disappointment” at the decision and announced plans to refer the case to the European Court of Human

See Full Page