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Pastor james coates grace life church2/18/2024 "The condition that Pastor Coates effectively stop doing his job as a pastor by adhering to unscientific and unconstitutional public health restrictions should never have been imposed on him by the RCMP, or by the court," Justice Centre president John Carpay said in a news release Wednesday. The judge ruled that Coates remain behind bars until his trial in May. In early March, his lawyers appealed with the argument that it would go against the pastor's conscience before God not to lead worshippers.Ī public health prosecutor argued that the pastor's release would be a danger to the public. And now that charge has been withdrawn and we think that's correct," Cameron said.Īfter he was charged, Coates was jailed when he continued to hold services in defiance of a bail order not to do so. "Instead he was released on not a valid undertaking because he never gave one. 7 and imposed a condition on the pastor that he only hold church services that followed public-health orders.Ĭoates refused to follow the condition, said Cameron, who added the RCMP should have taken the pastor before a justice of the peace but instead left the church. Jay Cameron, a lawyer with the Justice Center, said two RCMP officers met with Coates after a service Feb. Prosecutors did not immediately return messages seeking comment.Ĭoates, who preaches at GraceLife Church west of Edmonton, has been in jail for a month for allegedly holding services that violated public health rules on the size of gatherings. Update: James Coates, the Alberta pastor who has been jailed for violating public health orders, will appear in Stony Plain court on March 22, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Provincial Court of Alberta.Ī group that supports an Alberta pastor jailed after being charged with violating COVID-19 public health orders says it expects him to be released in the coming days.Ĭrown prosecutors have dropped all but one charge against James Coates and have agreed to his release without bail conditions, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said Wednesday.
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