Man facing terrorism-related charges in Quebec has case put off until Thursday

MONTREAL – A man arrested by Quebec provincial police over an alleged terrorism-related Facebook post had his case delayed until Thursday.

Nejib Belhaj-Chtioui, 36, was arrested Sunday at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport upon returning from Tunisia.

He faces two charges relating to the terrorism hoax section of the Criminal Code — conveying information and committing an act to cause reasonable concern that it is connected to a terrorist activity.

Belhaj-Chtioui was expected in court Tuesday for a bail hearing, but instead a new date will likely be set during his next court appearance.

The delay gives Belhaj-Chtioui’s lawyer, Nicolas Welt, time to get to know the case.

Provincial police have said the charges against Belhaj-Chtioui are related to something the suspect wrote on Facebook.

Neither police or the Crown would say what Belhaj-Chtioui posted.

Police said they began investigating Belhaj-Chtioui in 2011 and the Crown says an arrest warrant was issued in 2013.

Crown prosecutor Lucie Martineau objected to his release on Monday, when Belhaj-Chtioui was arraigned at the Montreal courthouse.

Police arrested Belhaj-Chtioui at the airport and Martineau said he likely had not been in Canada for some time.