The owner of Aladdin’s Café, who served jail time on weekends for sexual interference of a minor, will stand trial this summer after a charge of breaching probation.
Talal Merhi El Bakkar, 66 when he was sentenced Nov. 9, was given a three-month intermittent jail sentence after pleading guilty to sexual interference of a person under 16. He received a three-year probation order and as part of that, El Bakkar was bound by curfew for nine months, where he must be in his residence between 9:30 p.m. to 6 a.m.
El Bakkar is charged with a March 1 breach and Michael Ritzker, his legal counsel, said his client is accused of violating curfew. Ritzker entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday and a trial date is set for Aug. 13 at provincial court in Nanaimo.
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Ritzker said his client has been the subject of constant harassment and his downtown Nanaimo establishment has been vandalized.