Sexual assault trial postponed

The trial for a man accused of sexually assaulting three people at a Lethbridge hotel last year has been postponed for nearly three months.

Wijdan Yasir was scheduled for trial this summer, but Friday during a brief hearing in Lethbridge provincial court it was adjourned to Oct. 23-25 after the Crown explained that two of its witnesses would not be available on the original trial dates in August.

It’s the third time a trial has been set. The first was scheduled to begin Feb. 3, but it was cancelled after the accused and his lawyer failed to appear in court Jan. 24. A warrant was issued for Yasir’s arrest, but later vacated after the judge learned the failure to appear in court was simply an oversight and defence may have gotten court dates confused.

Yasir was charged April 16, 2016, after police received a complaint from a woman and two young girls that a man touched them inappropriately at a hotel swimming pool.

Police found the man shortly afterward at the hotel in the 2300 block of Mayor Magrath Drive South and he was arrested without incident. Police said the man and complainants are not known to each other.

Yasir was released from custody on $1,000 bail shortly after his arrest in April, and he pleaded not guilty May 18 to the charges. He has elected to be tried by a provincial court judge.