Pastor and Freedom Fighter Wins Again
– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
Pastor and Freedom Fighter Wins Again
Freedom of speech gets a fresh boost
CALGARY – Artur Pawlowski of Street Church Ministries was arrested last year for passing out pamphlets, which encouraged people to vote in the upcoming civic election, at Calgary’s City Hall. He was handcuffed, forcefully removed from the building, and manhandled into a squad car, and he then spent the night in jail. Since that time, Pawlowski has been seeking justice for the treatment he received and proof that he did nothing wrong by exercising his democratic right to freedom of speech and expression. Today, Pawlowski was notified by his lawyers that all charges relating to the arrest have been dropped by the City.
Mr. Pawlowski expressed his concern at the increasing rate that "true" freedoms are being stripped away in favour of saving feelings or preventing discomfort, "To tell you the truth, I find the use of such tactics very frustrating. I moved to Canada, because Canada is supposed to be a free and democratic society. Now it seems that those who are supposed to serve and protect our society’s citizens have been forced into the unfortunate role of acting as thought police toward them, and all for the sake of saving other people’s feelings or in order to keep people from being uncomfortable. But what did I do that was so bad? I encouraged people to learn about our province’s history and to be sure to vote in the municipal election. What’s the crime in that?"
He also stated his sincere relief that this case is behind him and is hoping to see Calgary’s Corporate Security, who called the officers in, use a much lighter hand in similar cases in the future. "It is my sincere desire to see a greater openness to law abiding free speech. I also hope to see officers take a more helpful and constructive role in free speech matters going forward. I am only disappointed that I had to be arrested in order for the positive progress to come, but I suppose there is always a cost for doing the right thing. I see the news, I received today, as progress and a great victory for freedoms in our country. I hope that other cities stand up and take notice and learn from the mistakes Calgary has made, so that they won’t do the same thing to their citizens."
For more information on this case call Artur Pawlowski at 403-607-4434.
You can view the details and video footage of this case here:
You can also view the brochures that were being passed out on the day of his arrest here:
http://streetchurch.ca/index.php/20100930640/News/Media/Who-are-you-going-to-vote-for.html
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