Brian Tamaki has been remanded in custody for 10 days after his bail application was refused.
The Destiny Church leader appeared in the Auckland District Court via an audiovisual link on Monday afternoon. He was arrested earlier in the day for allegedly breaching his bail conditions.
Tamaki is remanded in custody to Mt Eden Prison until January 27, which is his next court appearance.
The judge said the only information from the hearing that can be published is the outcome.
Tamaki is facing multiple charges relating to the COVID-19 Protection Public Health Order and breaching bail conditions.
In a statement released via his lawyer Ron Mansfield on Monday afternoon following the hearing, Tamaki says he "denies the breach and will defend what is alleged when permitted" at next Thursday in court.
"It is not accepted that he should have been remanded in custody and any longer period on remand will be challenged vigorously. He believes in the value of the rule of law and is disappointed the contrary has been suggested by those who seek to silence him and any opposition to their power or policy," he says.
"It is a sad day for the freedom of all New Zealanders when people cannot gather and be heard in opposition to government policy when they believe it to be wrong and contrary to the good of the people.
"The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act has lost any impact that those who drafted it dreamt it might have. Democracy has taken another hit today and we are all worse off for that."
Tamaki and his wife Hannah revealed he was going to be arrested ahead of police arriving at the couple's home on Monday morning.
"It's all about speaking the truth and actually that truth is about how our freedoms and rights have been eroded," Brian said in a Facebook video.
The couple said they "don't regret what we are doing".
Tamaki said he's speaking on behalf of businesses and individuals who he says have been hurt by the vaccine mandate.
"People think I keep breaching my bail conditions, I've always said I'm not guilty."
He went on to claim he should never have been charged in the first place.
"For all of those who say 'book him, send him off to jail' you don't understand why this has happened and I should never have been charged in the first place thank you."
Protesters swarmed the Mt Eden remand centre where Tamaki was taken and attempted to block the police car from entering. The crowd also performed a haka before surrounding the car.
Police launched an investigation earlier in the month after Tamaki visited Hagley Park in Christchurch to speak at a protest. But he claims it wasn't a protest but rather a "family funday picnic".
He said he didn't organise the event but was asked to speak because he was in the city to preach at the Destiny Church service in Cranmer Square.
His bail conditions mean he's banned from organising, attending, supporting, or speaking at any gathering that's in breach of COVID-19 rules. Under the orange traffic light setting, there are no capacity limits on gatherings should COVID-19 vaccine passes be used. If passes are not used, gatherings are limited to 50 people "based on 1m physical distancing in a single defined space at the venue at any time".
Tamaki appeared before a court three times last year. In November, he spoke at an anti-vaccine mandate protest in Auckland attended by more than 1000 people - despite the city being in alert level 3 and mass gatherings banned.
In October, he was charged with attending and organising a protest in breach of alert level 3 restrictions. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail on the condition he didn't attend or organise any gathering in breach of the COVID-19 requirements.
Days later, Tamaki attended another event at Auckland Domain and was charged with breaching his bail conditions. He again pleaded not guilty and was given bail.
