Ex-CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi pleads not guilty to five charges

Former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, center, accompanied by his…

He is charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking.

Jian Ghomeshi pleaded not guilty Thursday at his pretrial hearing on sexual assault and choking charges.

The other alleged sexual assault where charges were dropped, occurred in May of 2003 in Toronto.

The Canadian Press reports that Ghomeshi didn’t speak with reporters today and said only “not guilty” during the public portion of his court appearance.

Ghomeshi was sacked last October after the radio host showed his bosses at the CBC graphic evidence of a women with injuries that he said were inflicted by him during consensual rough sex. His lawyer, Marie Henein, has said her client will plead not guilty to all charges.VIDEO: Global and Mail writer Leah McLaren recently penned a look inside her decade-long friendship with disgraced CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi.

Ghomeshi, who first gained fame as a member of the 1990s satirical pop band Moxy Fruvous, defended his actions in a 1,500-word statement on Facebook when the accusations were first reported.

The trial is due to get underway on February 1st 2016, while a second trial which deals with one further count of sexual assault is due scheduled to begin in June 2016.

The conditions on Ghomeshi’s $100,000 bail require him to remain in Ontario and live with his mother.