Video: Pastor Sentenced To 60 Days, Released For Time Served

Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski, originally from Poland, was sentenced on Monday to 60 days for his role in protests against COVID-19 public health measures that blocked Alberta’s main Canada-U.S. border crossing for over two weeks.
But Justice Gordon Krinke, a judge in Lethbridge, Alberta, gave Artur Pawlowski 60 days credit for time already served and was released as a free man.
Justice Krinke said Pawlowski was not involved in planning the “Freedom Convoy” and didn’t play a significant role in his appearance at the border blockade.
“Probation would serve no useful purpose as the accused does not believe he did anything wrong. He is not remorseful for the harm he has caused,” Krinke, with the Alberta Court of Justice, said in his decision.
“Both the Crown and the defense are proposing a period of incarceration, and I accept that. A period of incarceration is required in order to achieve the objectives of denunciation and deterrence.”
After he was released, Pastor Artur spoke to journalists, saying the fight would continue. He declared he never should have been charged to begin with and said he would maintain his innocence.
While defending his innocence, he boldly called the media liars, saying, “If I am guilty of a crime, then you are guilty of a crime because you are all such pathological liars all the time.”

Pastor Artur was found guilty of mischief in May and breaching a release order for his role in the blockade at the Coutts, Alberta, border crossing in early 2022.
The Crown sought a sentence of eight to 10 months, while defense lawyers asked for time served.
During the trial, prosecutors accused Pawlowski’s impassioned speech to truckers, claiming he fanned the flames of unrest and convinced them to stay longer.
Sarah Miller, Pawlowski’s lawyer, said her client had “already served a significant sentence.”
“Mr. Pawlowski accepts responsibility. The Crown seeks to have Mr. Pawlowski bend the knee, to jail him until he abandons his beliefs, and to keep him in custody for an indeterminate period of time.”
A crowd of supporters was waiting in the hallway and cheered as he left the tiny courtroom.
More than 200 supporters waited outside the courthouse, with some chanting, “Hold the line.”
“I hope that my oppressors are listening because this is not over. This is just the beginning,” Pawlowski said.
“For the past 18 months, they’ve done everything in their power to force me to say that I am guilty, that I am sorry. They were forcing me to apologize, but I have nothing to apologize for.”
Pawlowski urged supporters to back his Solidarity Movement of Alberta party in the next provincial election and called Crown prosecutors and politicians “political traitors.”
“They should live every day in shame for what they’re doing to us free Canadians.”