(Video Credit: Rebel News)
Artur Pawlowski, a Canadian pastor who was arrested and jailed for holding a church service during a COVID lockdown, has had a resounding victory in court, setting aside the charges against him and reimbursing all fines.
Pawlowski is the minister of Calgary Street Church. He was reportedly harassed and arrested by Calgary police in the middle of a highway on May 9, 2021, as he was driving home from church. His congregants had gathered without masks for the service and it was deemed to be in violation of public health orders.
The pastor and his brother Dawid Pawlowski were charged with organizing an illegal in-person gathering, as well as “requesting, inciting, or inviting others” to participate in it with them.
In October, a judge found the brothers in contempt of Alberta’s May 6 health order. He imposed a draconian requirement on the pastor, mandating that he had to utter a government-approved statement saying that most medical experts support social distancing, face masks, and vaccines whenever he publicly spoke out against pandemic restrictions.
Pastor Artur Pawlowski's Lawyer: Next steps on “fair hearing” after arrest for contempt order@ATSoos interviews Pastor Artur Pawlowski's lawyer Sarah Miller to find out more about the team working on his case.
FULL REPORT:https://t.co/94rbb9OPHx pic.twitter.com/IGCIupXUr0
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 10, 2021
That case flipped upside down on Friday when an appeals court ruled that the Alberta Health Agency’s order prohibiting “illegal public gatherings” was “not sufficiently clear and unambiguous” in connection to the Pawlowskis.
“The Pawlowskis’ appeals are allowed. The finding of contempt and the sanction order are set aside. The fines that have been paid by them are to be reimbursed,” the three-member panel proclaimed in a 16-page ruling.
The court ordered the fines against the Pawlowskis, $23,000 against Artur and $10,000 against Dawid, to be returned to them. It also overturned a costs order against them of $15,733.50, to be set aside, and ruled Alberta Health Services must pay their legal costs, according to the Calgary Herald.
“It’s a slam dunk win. The Court of Appeal made a unanimous, sound decision and overturned the finding of contempt made against my client,” Pawlowski’s attorney Sarah Miller tweeted.
It’s a slam dunk win. The Court of Appeal made a unanimous, sound decision and overturned the finding of contempt made against my client. https://t.co/dB43A10wne
— Sarah Miller (she/her) (@SCM07) July 22, 2022
This is not the only time the pastor has been arrested, fined, and jailed. He has repeatedly defied Alberta’s pandemic restrictions and the police reportedly set out to make an example of him.
The paster was grilling steak for homeless people in Calgary in December of 2020 when police accosted him according to LifeSite News. He was fined $1,200 for that incident.
There are all kinds of videos out there showing Canadian police repeatedly mistreating and arresting the pastor. They went viral and there was a lot of outrage over them on Twitter.
Tomorrow I have another trial in Calgary! I am personally facing a $100,000 ticket for feeding the homeless during the greatest crisis we have ever seen in our country.
The trial is in Calgary courthouse in room 1005, 9am, Monday the 6, 2022 pic.twitter.com/mY18v9gWxe— Artur Pawlowski (@ArturPawlowski1) June 5, 2022
📹 | Police in #Canada arrests priest Artur Pawlowski demonstrating against #COVID19 restrictions.
▪️Pawlowski had called police officers "Nazis" previously.pic.twitter.com/eYwphDgfFR
— EHA News (@eha_news) January 2, 2022
Pawlowski suffered as a child under Polish communist rule but he never thought he would go through what he has endured in Canada. He was jailed for weeks in February, reportedly spending 23 hours a day in solitary confinement at the Calgary Remand Centre. He was sent there after daring to speak to truckers with the Freedom Convoy who were protesting vaccine mandates at the U.S.-Canada border.
2. Kenney — and his disgraceful justice & health ministers — spent millions of dollars hounding Pastor Artur and his brother Dawid. Kenney set the precedent for Justin Trudeau's political persecution of Tamara Lich.
Today the Court of Appeal ruled it was an illegal vendetta.
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) July 22, 2022
“He was placed in what he described as like a dog kennel, but it was like a cage, sort of like what you have in a police van; those really thin, small cages with very little air circulation. So he was placed in one of those for hours on end twice,” Pawlowski’s son, Nathaniel, claimed according to Fox News.
“I can feel your prayers, and they keep me strong,” the pastor proclaimed from his cell. “God allows me to be here for a witness to the entire world, to show what happens when you kick God out of your nation. Lawlessness, injustice, abuse of power and corruption creeped in.”
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