The arrest of controversial evangelist Tom de Wal earlier this month was unjustified. The police informed him of this in a letter on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Zeeland-West Brabant unit confirmed. The Public Prosecution Service dismisses the case and the faith healer is not fined.
On January 9, De Wal held a faith healing service in Tilburg. The municipality stated that instead of a church service there was an event because tickets were allegedly sold. Because De Wal had not applied for an event permit, acting mayor Onno Hoes had banned the service.
Not long after the service started, police raided the building. When De Wal then continued the service on the street, he was arrested.
However, the Public Prosecution Service concludes that there was no event, according to the letter sent by De Wal himself social media has been shared. The appeal to Article 26 of the general local regulationin which ticket sales are not mentioned as a ground for making a meeting subject to a permit requirement, was unlawful.
The police leave a comment NRC know that for this reason it was decided to ‘impose’ the case. “We let him know about this.”
Constitution
De Wal stated at his arrest that there was indeed a church service. According to him, the municipality’s intervention violated the freedom of religion, which is enshrined in the Constitution. The issue sparked just days after his arrest Parliamentary questions of the Christian Union and SGP.
Paul van Sasse van IJsselt, professor of law and religion at the University of Groningen, was critical of the authorities’ actions. It is, he said, not up to the state to determine when there is a church service. “If the organization itself says so, then the government must in principle assume that.”
Moreover, the police may only interrupt a church service in “high exception” if there is a case of “caught in the act.” “But then it must concern serious criminal crimes. That does not seem to be the case here.”
The municipality of Tilburg was not immediately available for comment on Thursday. Against it Brabants Dagblad she says she has “taken note” of the letter from the police and the assessment of the Public Prosecution Service. The municipality further states that it “understands” how the police “acted under the pressure of the situation at that time.”
De Wal is at the helm of Frontrunners Ministries, a charismatic Christian movement that claims that visitors can receive “breakthrough” and “healing” at church services.
Action groups protested against his arrival because he allegedly prayed for homogenization – something De Wal himself denies. On the day of the arrest, he was actually going to hold a service in Eindhoven. This was moved to Tilburg at the last minute due to the announced demonstration.
On social media he spoke of a victory on Thursday. He says he is “grateful” that “the truth has emerged.”
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