Yves Engler, a prominent Canadian author and activist, was released from jail on Monday after spending five days behind bars for social media posts that were critical of an outspoken supporter of Israel.

Last Tuesday, Engler, a contributor to Antiwar.com, was contacted by Montreal police to inform him that he would be arrested for comments he made on X (formerly Twitter) in replies to posts from Dahlia Kurtz, a pro-Israel activist and staunch supporter of the genocidal war Israel has waged on Gaza.

After being contacted by police, Engler shared the news that he would be arrested for calling Kurtz a “genocide” supporter and a “fascist” in response to her “racist, violent anti-Palestinian” posts. Engler said Kurtz frequently “calls for state violence against those challenging Canadian complicity in genocide.”

Kurtz claimed that Engler was harassing her even though her posts were public and X has a feature that allows users to block other users. “Kurtz has chosen not to block me but instead pursue criminal charges,” Engler said.

After writing about his situation and getting thousands of supporters to call for the charges to be dropped, the Montreal police then claimed Engler was harassing them and trying to “interfere” in a police investigation, tacking on charges.

“Angry at receiving emails and my article — the police were seeking release conditions barring me from discussing the charges levelled against me — the police are now claiming I’m victimizing them,” Engler said.