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       Supporters gather outside court as Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church appears in court after he was arrested for holding Sunday services in violation of COVID-19 rules, in Stony Plain, Alta., on Feb. 24, 2021.

       JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press

       A U.S. senator wants Canada investigated for violating religious freedom over the arrests of Alberta pastors accused of flouting COVID-19 restrictions.

       Missouri Republican Josh Hawley has asked his country’s Commission on International Religious Freedom to consider putting Canada on its special watch list.

       He compares the arrests of pastors James Coates and Tim Stephens to something that would occur in China, which is believed to have detained more than a million Muslims in so-called re-education camps.

       The commission says it has received Hawley’s request and that it’s looking in to it.

       Judge dismisses charter application of Alberta pastor on trial for violating health orders

       Coates spent a month in the Edmonton Remand Centre after he violated a bail condition not to hold church services that officials said were ignoring measures on COVID-19 capacity limits, physical distancing and masking.

       Stephens remains in custody after he was arrested last week following repeated public complaints about ongoing services that ignored similar orders.

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