He wasn't arrested for "writing the code", but for direct involvements (and making large sums of profit) for money laundering. Whether he is guilty of that: we'll see what comes up in the trail, but he certainly wasn't arrested "for writing code".

I have heard that too but it’s hard to know (either way) what he was arrested for as he hasn’t been charged after three months detention.

The police statement is https://www.fiod.nl/arrest-of-suspected-developer-of-tornado... - it seems to say he facilitated money laundering. Which could mean simply writing code or could mean doing more.

More info on https://www.notion.so/FreeAlex-campaign-1f8db0a2fdfc48b3b86a... which is a horrible notion site with a strange and awful UI.

Open source code should be considered protected speech. The fact that it’s not should scare the daylights out of any OSS contributor.

Also, privacy should be a human right.

If you disagree with the above, you might be a fascist.

It's protected speech. What you do with it can be criminal.

Code for an Arduino that moves a robotic arm is legal. Using it to pull a trigger and kill someone isn't.

Of course. Was the tornado cash person arrested for using the code in an illegal way or just for publishing the code?

We don't entirely know. The fact that the other Tornado Cash contributors weren't similarly arrested may be informative.