Thierry Baudet is ordered by a court to delete social media posts comparing the unvaccinated to Jews.
Image source, Getty Images
A right-wing Dutch MP has been ordered to delete social media posts comparing Covid restrictions to the Holocaust.
Thierry Baudet, leader of the Forum for Democracy party, had said on Twitter that unvaccinated people were “the new Jews” and “those who look away from the exclusions” were “the new Nazis”.
His posts prompted legal action from Holocaust survivors and Jewish groups.
A court has told him to delete the posts within 48 hours or risk a daily fine of €25,000 (£21,100).
A judge ruled against him for “pointlessly offending Holocaust victims and their relatives”.
He has also been banned from posting any images of the Holocaust during debates over Dutch Covid rules.
In a series of social media posts in November, Baudet drew comparisons between the unvaccinated and the victims of Nazi persecution because of Dutch Covid-19 rules that block access to some public places to those who have not been jabbed.
Baudet also posted a picture of a Nazi concentration camp, with the caption: “How is it POSSIBLE to not see how history is repeating itself?”
Four World War Two survivors and Jewish organisations opened proceedings against him, accusing him of downplaying the Holocaust.
Baudet’s lawyer insisted he had not intended the posts to be offensive, but as a warning about what the exclusion of the unvaccinated can lead to.
Baudet called it an “incomprehensible, crazy ruling” and said he would appeal.
Six million Jewish people died in the Holocaust – the Nazi campaign to eradicate Europe’s Jewish population.