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(LifeSiteNews) – Canadian Christian pastor Artur Pawlowski says a judge has forced him to “give up” his faith after banning him from publicly criticizing COVID health orders, including on social media, unless he also promotes opinions in favor of the government’s draconian health orders.
“Welcome to Chinada 2021,” Pawlowski said after his court sentencing hearing yesterday in an interview posted on Rebel News’ Twitter feed.
Pawlowski said a judge has essentially banned him from working as a preacher for nearly two years.
“Well, basically what the judge is saying is that I cannot be a pastor anymore. For 18 months, I have to give up my rights, I have to give up my convictions, I have to give up my faith, and I cannot participate in anything that I believe in.”
Yesterday, Pawlowski was handed a sentence from Alberta Justice Adam Germain that did not include jail time despite health authorities asking for it but fined him $23,000 and gave him 18 months’ probation and 120 hours of community service.
Pawlowski is also banned from leaving Alberta unless he obtains permission from his probation officer, which is extremely unlikely.
Pawlowski and his brother, Dawid, were in court Wednesday for a sentencing hearing regarding contempt of court charges against them for holding worship services at their Cave at Adullam church in Calgary in the spring of 2021. The service was held contrary to strict COVID rules in place at the time banning large in-person worship services.
During the sentencing hearing, Germain spent the better part of 40 minutes chiding Pawlowski for spending the summer months on tour in the United States, where he spoke about his ordeal with health authorities.
Despite reportedly stating that the Pawlowski brothers were “arrested in a spectacle” like in a “third world country,” the judge nevertheless accused the pair of having “reveled in their arrest.”
Germain also claimed Wednesday that Pawlowski made himself a type of martyr for going on a speaking tour in the United States.
Pawlowski spent the better part of July, August and September in America on his Courageous Faith tour, telling audiences about his ordeals with police and health officials who targeted him for not following local COVID rules.
Pawlowski’s legal team is working on an appeal of Wednesday’s sentencing along with his free speech limitations.
Pawlowski’s lawyer, Sarah Miller, said in an interview posted on Rebel News that she thought the judge would sentence them to jail time, but it was a “huge win” that no jail sentence was given.
Germain’s full written ruling has not yet been made public.
Pawlowski says judge’s ruling means that he now must ‘lie’ every time he opens his mouth
Pawlowski lambasted the fact in a post-court interview posted on Rebel News’ Twitter feed that he now is forced to go against his beliefs every time he speaks.
“(Now) every time I open my mouth to the public I have to lie, to the public, stating that vaccinations are saving lives, that masks work, that doctors and scientists are all for restrictions, pretty much a lie,” Pawlowski said.
“I have to become a liar every time I open my mouth in order to actually speak about the corrupted judges, the corrupted court system, and the corrupted politicians, because you know and I know, they are breaking the same rules all the time,” Pawlowski said in his post-court interview.
According to a Rebel News report, Germain is a “failed Liberal politician who was appointed to the courts by Jean Chretien after he lost his election.”
In July, Alberta Health Services (AHS) asked the court for a 21-day jail sentence against Pawlowski, claiming he “openly” flaunted COVID rules.
In September, AHS lawyer John Siddons argued that in addition to a 21-day jail sentence, Pawlowski should be fined $2,000 and pay $15,000 in costs. Siddons also recommended Dawid be jailed for 10 days.
At the September hearing, Pawlowski appeared virtually in court to argue against the pending jail sentence. He told a judge that he stood before the court as a “political prisoner of conscience.”
Pawlowski and his brother made international headlines after being arrested in a highway takedown in May for holding worship services at their Calgary church amid COVID lockdowns.
The pair served three nights in jail before being released on bail.
In June, a judge ruled that AHS had proved that the brothers were guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt of contempt” of court. This came after the brothers earlier breached an injunction order against them that said they would go to jail if they held church services.
In the spring of 2021, Pawlowski, who is a Polish immigrant, made international headlines for calling police and health inspectors making two unannounced health visits to his church “Gestapo Nazis.”
According to Rebel News reporter Sheila Gunn Reid, Justice Germain told Pawlowski that he did not have the right to refer to the health inspectors as “Nazis.”
Just a few weeks ago, Pawlowski was arrested by customs officials for offenses said to have occurred months ago upon returning home to Calgary from a tour of the United States.
Section 176 of the Criminal Code of Canada makes it a crime to interrupt a church service and also to arrest an “an officiant” when they are returning home from service, but at that time churches in Alberta were subject to lockdown rules imposing strict capacity limits.