A Dutch court on Wednesday (December 15) banned Thierry Baudet, leader of the Dutch populist Forum for Democracy (FvD) party, from comparing health restrictions against the coronavirus to the Holocaust, hailed an organization against anti-Semitism which had initiated the legal proceedings.
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MP Thierry Baudet must delete several of his social media statements within 48 hours, and will no longer be able to use Holocaust images in the debate surrounding health measures in the future, Dutch media reported. "
All this with a penalty of 25,000 euros per day, if there is default,
" said the judge, quoted by the Dutch press agency ANP.
"
The right to freedom of expression for a representative of the people is not unlimited
", he added, condemning the deputy for having "
unnecessarily offended the victims and relatives of the victims of the Holocaust
".
“
Foolish, incomprehensible judgment.
We are angry and combative.
And of course, we will appeal,
”said Thierry Baudet on Twitter after the judgment.
Several posts are affected
The summary proceedings were initiated by four Jewish survivors of World War II, the CJO, which brings together Jewish organizations in the Netherlands, and the Israel Information and Documentation Center (CIDI), which monitors the anti-Semitism in the country. They pointed to several publications of the populist Thierry Baudet on Twitter, in particular the one in which he affirmed that "
the unvaccinated are the new Jews, those who look away from the exclusions are the new Nazis
".
Thierry Baudet had also published side by side the photo of a child who had not been allowed to go to the feast of St. Nicholas (often a source of joy for the youngest Dutch), and that of a boy from the ghetto from Lodz (Poland) wearing a Star of David before his deportation. The plaintiffs also criticized the populist's sharing of a photo of the Buchenwald concentration camp, along with the comment: "
How is it POSSIBLE not to see how history repeats itself yet
".
CIDI hailed the judgment on Twitter, a "
relief
" for the prosecution, while stressing that they did not wish through this legal procedure "
not to take a position in the debate on corona measures, which it is important to lead.
".
In March 2021, one week before the legislative elections, the populist, known for his positions against anti-Covid vaccines and health measures, had already received a warning from Twitter.