BREAKING: Pastor Artur Pawlowski Sentenced to Credit for Time Served After Being Found Guilty Related to Speech He Gave Near Coutts, Alberta Border Blockade

Artur Pawlowski, a well-known street pastor in Alberta who garnered international attention due to multiple arrests for defying Covid-19 lockdown measures and steadfastly keeping his church open, has been sentenced to 61 days in jail but was given credit for time served. Pawlowski had already spent 78 days in pre-trial custody. This comes after he was found guilty of mischief and breaching conditions of a release order earlier this year, stemming from a sermon-like speech he delivered during the Coutts, Alberta border blockade in 2022.

The crown alleged that Pawlowski "incited mischief" in his speech to a crowded audience at Smuggler's Saloon in Coutts, Alberta, saying, "don't you dare break the line."

Pawlowski was found guilty of mischief and a breach charge earlier this year. Justice Gordon Krinke, who also presided over Pawlowski's sentencing today, had previously ruled that Pawlowski "intended to incite the audience to continue the blockade and intended to incite protesters to commit mischief."

With respects to the breach charge Justice Krinke also ruled back in May 2023, that he was “satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Pawlowski was subject to a release order with a condition to keep the peace and be of good behaviour and that he failed to comply with that condition without lawful excuse.”