Heemstede – Dutch far-right politician Thierry Baudet was found guilty Wednesday of “creating a breeding ground for anti-Semitism,” a court ruled, over several social media posts in which he compared the government’s coronavirus measures to the Holocaust.
“The comparison is flawed and you have spoken unnecessarily offensively and unlawfully of survivors of the Holocaust,” the court ruled.
Baudet, founder and leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD), was ordered to delete four social media posts within 48 hours or be fined €25,000 per day that they remain online. He was also banned from reposting any images linking the Holocaust and the coronavirus.
In a series of social media posts in November, Baudet compared those who are unvaccinated to victims of the Holocaust because of the Dutch government’s COVID-19 restrictions, which limit access to certain places for the unvaccinated.
Two Jewish interest groups and four individuals filed a lawsuit against Baudet for what they described as “downplaying of the Holocaust.”
Baudet’s lawyer said the politician’s posts “were in no way intended to hurt people, sow hatred or insult people” and instead described them as “expression of a politician in a public debate about the curtailment of the freedoms of the unvaccinated.”
After the verdict, Baudet said he would appeal the decision.
Source: politico
