Monsurat
A leaked video has shown that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith spoke to Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski, promising to discuss his case with justice officials, beyond the earlier pleas she had already made on COVID-related prosecutions, reports CBC News.
The phone conversation reportedly happened in early January, few weeks before his trial in Lethbridge on Feb. 2. The video was recorded by Pawlowski who faces charges of criminal mischief and an offence under Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act in relation to January 2022 Coutts, Alta., border blockade.
The call, according to CBC News, reveals that Smith’s conversations with top Alberta Justice Officials about pandemic-related prosecutions were more frequent and specific than she has publicly admitted.
Over the course of the 11-minute conversation, the Premier had reportedly said she would make a further attempt to see what could be done about Pawlowski’s situation. “I assure you that I have asked them that, almost weekly, ever since I got started here,” Smith told Pawlowski in reference to her asking “prosecutors if there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction, and is it in public interest?”
She said “there have been a number of cases that have been abandoned as they have gone through that assessment and I’m very hopeful that will be the case for more cases but there really isn’t a mechanism for me to get them to drop cases.”
A decision on Pawlowski’s case is expected on May 2.
However, the Premier released a statement on Wednesday, right before CBC published a story about the video, which she described as part of CBC’s “campaign of defamatory attacks.” Smith said “later today, in an effort to continue their campaign of defamatory attacks against me, my office staff, Alberta Crown Prosecutors, and the Alberta Public Service, the CBC intends to release an article about a conversation I had with an individual named, Artur Pawlowski…”
“As I have previously stated, I had my staff work with the Ministry of Justice, to determine if anything could be done to grant amnesty for those charged with non-violent, non-firearms COVID-related charges.”
She further refuted saying “at no time have I spoken with anyone from the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, nor to my knowledge, have any of my office’s staff. Allegations to the contrary are defamatory and will be dealt with accordingly.”
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