A 45-year-old man has appeared in court in Belfast charged with arson attacks on 5G masts in the city.
Michael Clarke, of Monagh Road, Belfast was refused bail and remanded in custody.
He is accused of two arson attacks on 5G masts in west Belfast on the same night in June 2023.
Belfast Magistrates Court was told there was CCTV of two men approaching a mast at Owenvarragh Park, one of whom was carrying a JD Sports bag, before the mast was set alight.
The bag was abandoned at the scene. It was later tested and the string of the bag provided a mixed DNA profile, which included a DNA link to the defendant.
The court heard that two men dressed in similar distinctive clothing also carried out an arson attack at a nearby 5G mast at the Park Centre Shopping Centre around the same time.
A police officer told the court it was officers' belief that Mr Clarke was one of the two men involved in both attacks.
He said a search of Mr Clarke's home following his arrest earlier this week had uncovered petrol cans, a key said to be used for opening service ports on mobile phone masts, anti-5G literature and information about defences to a charge of criminal damage.
The officer told the court that while the defendant had not answered questions during interview, he had described himself as a "freeman of the land" and gone on a "rant" about 5G masts during which he had described them as a "weapons system" and that people would find themselves "unalived unless we wake up".
The officer told the court that Mr Clarke's brother had been arrested and remanded in custody last week on charges linked to the alleged destruction of 5G masts.
He said there had been 26 arson attacks on masts in the west of the city since 2023 by a network of people influenced by a conspiracy theory.
While police had initially estimated the damage to be in the region of around £4m, they had since been told that that was a very conservative estimate.
He said the case was one where significant public interest was engaged, with people in the area reporting difficulties accessing healthcare and other services due to the impact on mobile phone coverage.
A defence solicitor said the principal evidence against his client was the DNA link.
The police officer confirmed to him that as well as his client's DNA found on the sports bag, profiles of two other unidentified men had also been located.
The solicitor also said that no one had positively identified Mr Clarke as being one of the two men in the CCTV.
He described it as a "highly circumstantial" case.
Police said they were objecting to bail on a number of grounds.
The district judge said she accepted the "test for connection" to the charges had been made.
She said that while she was refusing bail, Mr Clarke could exercise his right to seek it at the High Court.
As the case concluded, Mr Clarke made a reference to the Nuremberg trials of post-war Nazis and accused those in the court of being guilty of treason.
The judge ordered that the defendant be removed to the cells.
He was remanded in custody with the case listed for hearing again on 10 October.
