Street Church pastor Artur Pawlowski has been found guilty of mischief, wilfully damaging and destroying essential infrastructure, and breaching a release order at the Coutts Border Blockade. .“This decision focuses on whether the Crown has proved beyond a reasonable doubt the actus reus (the guilty action) and mens rea (the guilty mind) to the offences which Mr. Pawlowski is charged,” said Court of King’s Bench of Alberta Justice Gordon Krinke in a Tuesday hearing. .“If it has, I must convict.” .Pawlowski was arrested at his home by six officers after he encouraged protestors at the Coutts Border Blockade to stay put in 2022. .READ MORE: WATCH: Pawlowski arrested at home by numerous police.Pawlowski’s son Nathaniel said his father and him were getting ready to head to Coutts for the day when an undercover police minivan pulled up and six officers sprinted at them. .Police told Artur he was under arrest for mischief over $5,000. .Pawlowski was released from the Calgary Remand Centre under strict bail conditions in 2022. .READ MORE: WATCH: Street pastor Pawlowski out of prison after bail conditions finally set.His release followed 51 days of continuous incarceration between the Edmonton and Calgary detention centres — many of which were spent in forced solitary confinement and under what he said were excessive and cruel conditions..Under threat of rearrest and detention, he was not permitted to speak to or wave to his supporters who had lined the sidewalks outside the building on his release to offer support. Other bail conditions included a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and house arrest — a combination Pawlowski said was nonsensical and excessive. .Krinke acknowledged the agreed statement of facts, photographs, the videos of Pawlowski’s speech, and the accompanying transcript formed the totality of the evidence. .His decision was based off of a careful analysis of his speech. This speech had different interpretations by the Crown and defence. .The Crown characterized the speech as a fiery address, where he incited the crowd to participate in the protest. The defence lawyers described the speech as a show of support to the protestors, encouraging them to engage in a peaceful resolution. .Krinke said Pawlowski’s speech was intended to incite protestors to continue the blockade. He added it is "not logical for me to conclude his actions were solely communicative." .He went on to say the protections for the mischief charges would not apply in this situation. Overall, he is satisfied the Crown has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the accused incited others to commit mischief. .While the wilfully damaging and destroying essential infrastructure charge falls under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), Krinke said it mirrors the mischief charge. For the most part, his comments to the CIDA charge resembled those of the mischief charge. .He found Pawlowski "intended to counsel protestors to render the highway useless." He acknowledged his lawyers were filing a constitutional challenge to try to strike down CIDA as unconstitutional. .Pawlowski was put on a release order while he awaited trial for charges over him violating COVID-19 restrictions. One of these conditions was to be of good behaviour and keep the peace. .While the court does not need to convict based on trivial breaches, Krinke said this is not the case. The breach arose because he counselled people to commit mischief. .“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Pawlowski was subject to a release order to keep the peace and be of good behaviour and that he failed to comply with that condition without lawful excuse,” he said. .As soon as the verdict was read, Crown attorney Steve Johnson said he wanted to stay the CIDA charge because of the criminal convictions. His defence lawyer Chad Haggerty accused him of not wanting to see the law overturned. ."My friend is on shaky ground," said Haggerty. ."It's a bit too late to drop a charge after a judge renders a decision." .The Democracy Fund (TDF) said in December charges against Pawlowski — arising from him feeding homeless people and attending a freedom walk — have been stayed by the Crown. .READ MORE: Crown stays charges against Pawlowski.“This is an incredibly late resolution in Mr. Pawlowski’s favour,” said TDF lawyer Sarah Miller. .He was charged for attending gatherings allegedly in breach of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. He faced the possibility of a fine of up to $100,000 if convicted..Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
