For daring to open his church, feed the homeless, preach and protest injustice Pastor Artur Pawlowski has endured more hardship and persecution at the hands of unelected health officials, police and politicians over the last two years than most will ever encounter in a lifetime.

If that seems hyperbolic, it isn’t. Drug dealers and sex offenders have an easier time in the judicial system and in the court of public opinion than this Polish pastor who just wanted to be left alone to worship in peace. Artur and his family have seen threats, vandalism and assaults both at home and in their place of worship, and Artur’s dramatic repeated arrests and 51-day incarceration drew international attention.

But after all these hardships, the Court of Appeal of Alberta has handed Pastor Artur, and his legal counsel Sarah Miller of JSS Barristers who is being provided to Artur at no cost to him thanks to your donations at SaveArtur.com, an absolute and total victory. The ruling was a categorical repudiation of the failing of the courts when it comes to Pastor Artur’s ongoing prosecution, with the decision going so far as to say the contempt of court charges he faced should never have applied to him in the first place. I spoke with Sarah Miller to break down this win shortly have the written ruling was made available, you can watch that video here.

I also wanted to get a personal reaction from the man himself fresh off the ruling, so I joined Pastor Artur at his home to ask him how it feels to land this incredible success after so many years of harassment and disappointment, whether he would do anything differently given the chance and what he thinks of the politicians who continue to act as though his persecution was never political and was just normal judicial process.

While this ruling will go a long way to ensuring Pastor Arturs’s freedom and we hope to any pending charges against Artur dropped in the coming days, he is still facing charges under Alberta’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act and is relying on your tax receipt eligible donations to the Democracy Fund at SaveArtur.com to ensure he continues to receive strong legal representation.

Read the full decision, here.