- Artur Pawlowski, 49, was jailed for 51 days for speaking to Canadian Freedom Convoy at the U.S.-Canada border in Coutts, Alberta in February
- The Polish-Canadian pastor, who fled communism during the 80s, was arrested on February 7, 2022, for the fifth time since the beginning of the pandemic
- Pawlowski was taken to Calgary Remand Centre, where he alleges he was treated poorly, according to an interview with Canadian outlet Rebel News Court
- He claimed to have been placed in a small metal cage, not given water for a whole day, and deprived of both his glasses and a Bible
- Pawlowski also said he was strip-searched repeatedly, spent many hours in solitary confinement and was made to sleep on cold concrete
- Pawlowski was transferred to the the psychiatric ward at Edmonton Remand Centre, for a brief time
- He says that while there he shared a cell with a paranoid schizophrenic who told him he had killed his own brother with a machete
- The truckers were protesting a Canadian mandate that forces truckers crossing the border with the U.S. to be vaccinated
- Pawlowski made headlines in April 2021 during an Easter service, when he threw armed police out of his sanctuary when they checked for COVID-19 compliance
- Pawlowski was was required to pay a $25,000 bail and a $10,000 surety from his wife, as well as $2,000 from his son
A pastor who fled communism has detailed the abuse he said he suffered while jailed for 51 days for preaching to the Canadian Freedom Convoy.
Artur Pawlowski, 49, told Fox News that he'd been kept in a metal cage, made to sleep on a concrete floor, deprived of his Bible and forced to endure repeated strip searches during his time at the grim Calgary Remand Centre.
He also claims there was a price on his head, and alleges that the door to his cell would be left open after members of the Canadian government tried to have him attacked.
He was released earlier this month following his most recent arrest on February 7 just days after he spoke to the trucker convoy at the U.S.-Canada border in Coutts, Alberta.
His speech was at the height of the protests against a Canadian mandate that forces truckers crossing the border with the U.S. to be vaccinated.
Pawlowski urged them to 'hold the line' against government overreach without resorting to violence - and advised them from traveling to Edmonton, fearing a government crackdown like what happened in Ottawa.
Pawlowski was arrested at his home a few days later and taken to Calgary Remand Centre, where the pastor alleges he was mistreated.
He also claimed that he was strip-searched repeatedly, spent hours in solitary confinement and forced to sleep on cold concrete.
'They were punishing the entire prison because of me,' he said. 'And then they paraded me in front of the inmates, saying, 'That's the guy. You're being punished because of him. So if you have a chance to do something, that's the villain, that's the guy.''
'And I think that was the scariest time,' he added.
In the wake of Pawlowski's arrest, protesters demanding his release gathered daily outside the jail for more than 40 days.
The protests prompted the prison to punish other inmates by placing all of them on lockdown, he said, which put him in danger.
'I was told by inmates, and they're willing to testify, that they were approached by different people from within the administration — and the guards bribing them with different incentives to beat me up,' he said, adding that his cell door would sometimes be left open.
Pawlowski was then transferred to Edmonton Remand Centre, the largest prison in Canada, where he said he shared a cell in the psychiatric ward with a paranoid schizophrenic who told him he had killed his own brother with a machete
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