Canadian pastor who held service despite COVID-19 lockdown wins legal victory

Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski notched a major legal win after being arrested and found in contempt for holding a church service during the COVID-19 lockdown.

A Canadian court ruled Friday that health agency orders restricting “illegal public gatherings” were ambiguous and therefore could not apply to Pawlowski’s decision to hold a church service, in which congregants gathered without masks amid the country’s pandemic mitigation efforts.

“It’s a slam dunk win. The Court of Appeal made a unanimous, sound decision and overturned the finding of contempt made against my client,” Pawlowski’s attorney Sarah Miller tweeted.

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Pawlowski, who leads Calgary’s Street Church, was arrested on May 8, 2021, in the middle of a busy Canadian highway as he was heading home from church.

Both he and his brother, Dawid Pawlowski, were charged with organizing and inviting others to an illegal in-person gathering. In October, the brothers were found to be in contempt of Alberta’s public health orders.

However, an Alberta appeals court judge panel has ruled that the Pawlowskis’ appeals are allowed given that the orders were “not sufficiently clear and unambiguous.”

“The finding of contempt and the sanction order are set aside,” the 16-page ruling stated. “The fines that have been paid by them are to be reimbursed.”

Pawlowski has been arrested and fined multiple times for defying Alberta’s pandemic restrictions, including gatherings to feed the homeless and protest vaccine mandates.

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On Friday, the court panel ordered the Alberta Health Services to reimburse Pawlowski all fines levied against him for holding the church services, in addition to his legal costs.