Torch-bearer who threatened D66 leader back in custody for breaking release conditions

The man sentenced to six months in prison early this year for standing outside D66 leader Sigrid Kaag’s house with a burning torch and shouting threats is back in jail. He repeatedly failed to comply with the conditions for his early release, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) told NOS without further explanation.

Max van der B. from Amsterdam got sentenced to six months in prison earlier this year. He was released early in June, pending his appeal. In addition to the prison sentence, the court banned him from going near Kaag or anyone else he had harassed.

The OM would not tell NOS which conditions of his release Van der B. broke.

Shortly after his release, the 29-year-old man said in a video that he would not stop his “activism,” Het Parool reported. In another video, he implied that he was breaking the terms of his release. “I should actually be at home now,” he said.

According to the broadcaster, the man has held various demonstrations since getting out of jail. He went to an Amsterdam hotel when he heard that Klaus Schwab, the director of the World Economic Forum, was allegedly staying there. And he went looking for Nieuwsuur journalist Rudy Bouma, who reports extensively about conspiracy theories and misinformation, at the Media Park in Hilversum.