FORMER RADIO HOST Jian Ghomeshi has been acquitted of numerous charges of sexual assault before a court in Canada.
After spending close to a month deliberating, Judge William Horkins today ruled that the former presenter was not guilty of four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking from a period between 2002 and 2003.
In his remarks, the judge said that the plaintiffs in the case had been: “less than full and frank and forthcoming”.
“The evidence fails to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt,” he went on.
The high-profile case has drawn attention to the way that sexual assault victims are treated by the Canadian justice system.
If convicted Ghomeshi had faced a possible life sentence, AFP has reported.
According to CBC (the Canadian state broadcaster and the Ghomeshi’s former employer) the decision has sparked outrage in the country.
Outside the court, Crown prosecutor Michael Callaghan was interrupted by a topless protester as he prepared to speak to reporters.
The woman was tackled by police and taken inside the courthouse before being handcuffed and put in the back of a police van.
The broadcaster has quoted University of Toronto law professor Brenda Cossman as saying that saying that witnesses in sexual assault cases are held to unrealistic standards to prove their cases in the current court system.
Ghomeshi is set to appear before court again in June to face a separate accusation of workplace harassment dating to 2008.
- Comments have been turned off as Ghomeshi is set to go before the courts again in June.
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