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

The 48-year-old disgraced former CBC radio host has elected to be tried by judge alone at a trial that is to start in February.

When the hearing began, Ghomeshi stood and formally pleaded not guilty to four charges of sexual assault and one charge of choking to overcome resistance.

His plea, which he had to repeat into a microphone for the benefit of the court reporter, marked the first time he has spoken in court so far.

Ghomeshi appeared in a dark suit, sitting beside his lawyers, Marie Henein and Danielle Robitaille. His tired face remained impassive as the details of the charges, which allegedly occurred in 2002 and 2003 and involve three women including Trailer Park Boys actress Lucy DeCoutere, were read to the court.

After he entered his plea, the public and media were ordered to leave the courtroom for a pretrial motion to be heard in camera, with only the lawyers and Ontario Court Justice William Horkins present.

The pretrial motion, brought by the defence, is regarding a request for certain records.

On Thursday afternoon, Gillian Hnatiw, a lawyer representing DeCoutere, issued a statement by email.

“Since the allegations against Mr. Ghomeshi surfaced last fall, an important conversation about intimate violence has opened up on a national scale.

“While this case works its way through the justice system, countless assault survivors are privately reclaiming agency over their lives, telling their stories, and finally beginning to trust that people will believe them.

“However, the fact remains that, on average, there are only six convictions for every 1000 sexual assaults that occur in this country‎. That number is unlikely to change if we continue to scrutinize the lives of the victims over the conduct of the accused.

“Fundamentally, the case is about the alleged behavior of Mr. Ghomeshi. It is important to victims everywhere that we remain focused on that fact.”

It was nearly one year ago, on Oct. 26, 2014, that the CBC announced it had fired the high-profile radio host.

At that time, Ghomeshi published a long Facebook defence of himself that described his interest in “a variety of activities in the bedroom ... that are mutually agreed upon, consensual and exciting for both partners.”

CBC subsequently said Ghomeshi was fired after executives saw what they described as graphic evidence that he had physically injured a woman.

On Nov. 26, Toronto police charged him with four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking. Three more sexual assault charges were added in January.

In May, the Crown dropped two of the sexual assault charges. At that time, Crown prosecutor Mike Callaghan told the court there was no reasonable prospect of conviction on the two withdrawn charges, and that he had been in contact with the two complainants involved.

The remaining six charges are linked to alleged incidents in 2002, 2003 and 2008 involving four women. Their names are all covered by a publication ban, except for DeCoutere.

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Ghomeshi will face a separate trial on the 2008 count of sexual assault at a trial in June.

The one count of sexual assault will be tried separately because it occurred in a “different factual context,” Callaghan said.

Ghomeshi remains out on $100,000 bail, with conditions that require him to stay in Ontario and live with his mother.

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