MONTREAL – Controversial Islamic educator Adil Charkaoui pleaded not guilty Friday to assault charges stemming from an alleged incident at a Montreal CEGEP.
Charkaoui’s lawyer briefly appeared in a Montreal courthouse to enter the plea on his behalf.
Charkaoui was arrested after an alleged incident during a soccer game last month at College de Maisonneuve, where he has rented space for weekend Arabic courses.
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The school temporarily suspended his lease in February 2015 when it learned two of six Quebec youths who fled to Turkey and may have joined jihadist groups in the Middle East had briefly attended classes at his institution.
The Moroccan-born Charkaoui was arrested under Canada’s security certificate system in 2003. Canada’s police and security departments alleged he was a terrorist and had trained at a militant camp in Afghanistan.
For nine years his movements were monitored by the state but he was never charged.
His case returns to court June 10.