Willem Engel released from jail, social media ban is torn up

Willem Engel was arrested in March 2022 after a mass complaint.
A still from a video of the arrest on Sunday @dorienrose

Willem Engel, the anti-coronavirus measure campaigner and anti-vaxxer, has been released from jail following his arrest on Sunday for breaking the terms of his bail.

The court also ruled that the bail terms – a complete social media ban – were too broad and his right to freedom of expression was more important.

Engel had reportedly suggested the ban himself at his remand hearing last week, but went on to appear in a YouTube interview which was also broadcast via Facebook and Twitter. He was then rearrested on his way to a demonstration in Nijmegen.

Engel was originally arrested on charges of incitement. In particular, he is wanted for placing at least seven messages on social media which could be considered incitement to break the law.

These included photographs of health service staff who worked in vaccination centres ‘for later’ – which could have led people to commit a criminal offence, the public prosecution department said at the time.

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