The trial of a Halifax businessman accused of violating Canada’s regime of economic sanctions in Syria is set for August. Nader Kalai is the first person to face trial over allegedly breaching Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA).
Canada established sanctions against Syrian in 2011 after the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, violently cracked down on peaceful protesters.
Kalai, a Syrian national with permanent resident status in Canada, was supposed to have a trial this month, but that hearing has been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kalai was not present on Thursday as he is in Syria, which currently has no international flights out of the country. Instead, he was represented by Ron Pizzo and Joel Pink, who