Judge reduces Arnhem area ban for Pegida leader to April 10

The judge ruling on the preliminary injunction adjusted the area ban that Arnhem Mayor Ahmed Marcouch imposed on Pegida leader Edwin Wagensveld. The ban is now valid until April 10. The original area ban would have prevented Wagensveld from stepping foot in Arnhem for six months.

Wagensveld wanted the area ban to be suspended. Marcouch was open to reducing the ban to three months but the injunction judge ruled that the ban is a drastic measure that should last as short as possible. Three weeks from the date that the ban started is reasonable, according to her.

She recognized that she cannot see the future and called it “in some sense an arbitrary decision to decide how long the fear for serious disorderly behavior will last.” That fear was the reason for the area ban.

Wagensveld wanted to ban a copy of the Quran in Arnhem on March 23. He announced that he was going to ignore a demonstration ban, which prompted Marcouch to impose an emergency area ban on him.

The act was designated as a local terror threat. The judge agrees with that designation, as shown in the verdict. The judge agreed that it was reasonable that Marcouch issued the ban but not for three or six months.

How long the ban should last is a “tough question,” according to the judge, but considering the fact that the concrete terror threat can change, she thinks three weeks is reasonable.

The Pegida leader announced at the start of this week that he wants to demonstrate again in Arnhem on Saturday, but those plans will now be halted due to him not being allowed in Arnhem until April 10.

Wagensveld was arrested on Wednesday during the treatment of his case in the Court in Arnhem because he was swinging a Quran around and pulling it over the floor. With this, he broke the conditions in the area ban, according to police.