Pawlowski found guilty on two border blockade charges

A judge has found Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski guilty of mischief for his role in protests against COVID-19 mandates near the Coutts border last year. Justice Gordon Krinke also found Pawlowski guilty of breaching a release order. He also faces a third charge under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA) of willfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure. Although Krinke found that Pawlowski “counselled other persons to interfere with the use of Highway 4 which rendered it useless,” he reserved his ruling on the charge until a defence constitutional challenge of CIDA has been heard. The case is scheduled to return to court on May 24.

For his part, Pawlowski says although he’s been found guilty on two charges, that will not silence him.