CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) – A provincial judge has denied Canadian Christian pastor Artur Pawlowski bail. He will be forced to stay in jail until at least March 11.
As first reported by Rebel News Wednesday, Alberta Provincial Court Judge Erin Olsen ruled that the Calgary preacher was a threat to “public safety,” because he refuses to comply with COVID health rules.
Olsen concluded “that the provision of cash bail with or without conditions of release would be unwise and fruitless, given the accused’s recent history of paying fines and costs potentially with other people’s money.”
Olsen also claimed that Pawlowski’s recent speech to protesters at the Alberta/Montana border could be looked upon as a call to violence.
She noted that Pawlowski is looking at a total of three charges, due to a speech he gave at a protest at the Alberta/Montana border which the government claims “aided and abetted mischief and interfered with critical infrastructure.”
On February 8, Pawlowski was arrested for the fifth time by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak at a peaceful Freedom Trucker protest at the Alberta/U.S. border, near Coutts, Alberta.
The police had been staking out the Christian preacher’s home, according to Pawlowski’s son, Nathaniel.
According to Rebel News, Pawlowski is facing “trespassing and mischief over $5000 criminal charges, in addition to being charged under Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act for allegedly abetting the Coutts, Alberta trucker blockade.”
According to Rebel News, “Pastor Artur is the first person ever charged under the Act, but it is a charge that many suspect is not likely to stick.”
Pawlowski’s supporters have been holding daily protests in support of the preacher outside the Calgary jail where he is being held, demanding his immediate release. They have said they will gather outside the prison every day until he is released.
Pawlowski’s son Nathaniel said that his dad’s jailing is a government “vendetta.”
According to Pawlowski’s brother Dawid, Artur’s conditions in jail have been “filthy.” He has been treated “horribly” and was even denied access to fresh drinking water, Dawid said.
Pawlowski is being represented by attorneys Sarah Miller and Chad Haggerty with the help of Rebel News. They are raising money for his legal fees at savearthur.com.
The preacher last spent time in jail after being arrested on New Year’s Day in what could be described as a highway takedown for allegedly breaking a court order. He was released after one night.
Pawlowski made international headlines after he and Dawid were arrested in a first highway takedown in May 2021 for holding worship services contrary to Alberta’s COVID rules affecting church service capacity limits.
He and Dawid spent a total of three nights in solitary confinement.
Under the “conservative” government of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, three Christian pastors, including Pawlowski, were jailed for going against COVID rules.
Despite Kenney suddenly lifting the province’s COVID vaccine passport amid the trucker Freedom Convoy and border protests in Alberta, many COVID rules remain.
Masking is still mandatory for those over age 12, and capacity limits remain for many venues. These won’t be lifted for at least two more weeks.
Kenney also said the vaccine passport system was effective in essentially coercing people to take the abortion-tainted experimental jab.
Many pro-freedom advocates remain deeply skeptical of the local and state/provincial governments that are finally rolling back some of the draconian measures they instituted nearly two years ago. Those restrictions evolved from March 2020’s “stay at home” orders and the shutting down of businesses, churches, and restaurants to eight-hour-a-day mask mandates for toddlers in daycare, forced vaccinations to remain employed or receive lifesaving kidney transplants, and segregation based on mRNA jab status.