The state of democracy in the Netherlands

Protesters at an anti-Covid restriction demonstration on Sunday reacted with shock to the re-arrest of Viruswaarheid leader Willem Engel. The protesters gathered against the Temporary Covid-19 Measures Act (Twm) and the possible introduction of a European digital ID.

Engel, a Covid denier who was arrested on charges of sedition in mid-March, was taken back into custody on Sunday after violating the terms of his release. Some demonstrators criticized the re-arrest on the basis of free speech.

“The fact that he was arrested again says enough to me about the state of democracy in the Netherlands," - said a young man at the event. "They want to silence dissidents and critical speakers. They want to silence them.”

Others expressed the fear that they, too, would get arrested for talking to the news outlet. One woman called the news of Engel's arrest "terrible."

“This is simply not possible in the Netherlands," she told. "You can basically say and do what you want here. But definitely not the last two years. We should not become North Korea or China. This is the Netherlands.”

Organizer of the event Michel Reijinga, of Nederland in Verzet, called it a "black day for the Netherlands" in his onstage announcement of Engel's arrest.

https://nltimes.nl/2022/04/03/nijmegen-covid-protesters-express-shock-engels-re-arrest