Prominent Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski, who earned international media attention for defying onerous pandemic restrictions, has been released from prison after reportedly spending close to two months in solitary confinement.
Pawlowski, who leads Street Church and the Cave of Adallum in Calgary, Alberta, was released Wednesday after spending 51 days in custody. The preacher’s release comes about six weeks after he was arrested for allegedly inciting “mischief” while addressing a crowd of Freedom Convoy participants at the U.S.-Canada border in Alberta, according to CBC News.
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He was also charged with “breaching an order to keep the peace,” according to the Canadian news outlet. Pawlowkski was there to voice his support for truckers who opposed government restrictions in the U.S. and Canada requiring entrants to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or quarantine upon re-entry to either country.
A judge initially rejected Pawlowski’s release Feb. 9, but Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Gaylene Kendall granted the pastor’s bail this week after reviewing his case. He is required to pay a $25,000 bail and a $10,000 surety from his wife in addition to $2,000 from his son.
The preacher is also under a curfew, requiring him to be home from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m., except to attend church services.
Adam Soos of Rebel News posted video of Pawlowski’s release to social media:
Before authorities with the Calgary Remand Centre ordered the crowd to disperse, Pawlowski’s wife and son were among those waiting outside the facility to greet the incarcerated pastor:
Sarah Miller, the attorney representing Pawlowski, said during an interview with the right-leaning Rebel News it was “unnecessary” to arrest and detain her client, describing his subsequent incarceration as “so wrong.”
While Miller is glad to see Pawlowksi released from jail, she noted “this is not the full-blown celebratory type situation that we would hope for, because he is under very strict conditions,” referring to the burdensome curfew placed upon him. Nevertheless, she said, “being under strict conditions at home with his family is a far better cry” than being locked behind bars.
Pawlowski has been arrested a handful of times since he first gained widespread attention in the spring of 2021.
In April of that year, the Polish-born pastor shouted down law enforcement officers who showed up at his church service on Easter weekend. During the interaction, Pawlowski repeatedly referred to the officers as “Gestapo” and “Nazis.”
You can watch that interaction below:
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