TORONTO -- Two men accused of plotting a terrorist attack on a passenger train travelling between Canada and the U.S. are currently on trial in Toronto. Here are a few key dates in the case of Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier.
April 22, 2013: Jaser is arrested in Toronto and Esseghaier is arrested in Montreal. They are charged in what the RCMP allege was a plan to derail a passenger train between Toronto and New York City. On the same day, former Canadian resident Ahmed Abassi, who had been studying engineering at Quebec's Laval University, is arrested and charged in New York in connection with the alleged plot.
April 23, 2013: Jaser and Esseghaier make separate first appearances in court and dispute the allegations against them.
July 30, 2013: Jaser is informed that the Parole Board of Canada has revoked a pardon it had issued to him in 2009 for his 1997 fraud conviction for passing bad cheques and a 2001 conviction for uttering threats.
Sept. 23, 2013: Federal prosecutors announce the case against Jaser and Esseghaier is proceeding directly to trial, bypassing a preliminary hearing.
Nov. 29, 2013: Jaser is denied bail.
March 14, 2014: An Ontario judge orders a lawyer be appointed to help the court in Jaser and Esseghaier's case. Esseghaier has repeatedly refused a lawyer unless the lawyer was willing to use the Qur'an as a reference for the case instead of the Criminal Code.
June 3, 2014: Abassi accepts a plea deal and pleads guilty to immigration charges after U.S. prosecutors drop terror-related charges, saying he refused alleged attempts by Esseghaier to join a terror plot.
July 16, 2014: Abassi is sentenced in the U.S. to the 15 months he already served in custody and is set to be deported to his native Tunisa.
Jan. 6, 2015: A Federal Court judge upholds the decision to revoke Jaser's criminal pardon.
Jan. 23, 2015: Not guilty pleas are entered in a Toronto court for Jaser and Esseghaier.
Feb. 2, 2015: A jury trial begins for Jaser and Esseghaier in Toronto.
