France: Scandal of comedian convicted of anti-Semitism continues

The ongoing scandal in France around the infamous comedian Dieudonné, who has been banned from performing because of his racism, flared up with a new dose of fuel at the end of 2013 and is still alive and well. BBC News reports that French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has emphasized that anti-Semitic statements should not go unpunished and has said the justice system will insist the comedian pay the high fines levied against him.

"All of the state authorities must work on Dieudonné paying those fines. No one is above the law," Valls aid in an interview for the Europe 1 radio station. 

The minister also warned that the artist, whose full name is Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, will probably do his best to avoid paying the fines, which total tens of thousands of euro, by declaring bankruptcy. The artist’s attorney then told the media that his client will immediately respond to every future performance ban by counter-suing.  

Dieudonné intends to present his most recent show, called "Le Mur" (The Wall), during a tour of several French towns and is scheduled to start this Thursday in Nantes. In the show, scenes of which have turned up on the internet, the humorist mentions the Holocaust and Jewish personalities in a way that the media says prompts embarrassment at the very least. 

The comedian most recently let his whereabouts be known a few days ago, when the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Paris began investigating threats that had allegedly been made against him. In England a week ago, French football striker Nicolas Anelka of West Bromwich prompted a ruckus when he celebrated a goal using a controversial gesture that has been popularized by the comedian.     

That gesture, called a "quenelle", is considered to be an inverted Nazi salute in which one straight arm points down to the ground while the other crosses the breast to touch the opposite shoulder. The 47-year-old humorist and political activist initially became famous by performing as a duo with a Jewish colleague, Élie Semoun. 

The duo’s performances used jokes to attack racial stereotypes. Dieudonné, whose father is from Cameroon and whose mother is French, has long actively spoken out against racism. 

Later in his career, however, he became friends with a representative of the ultra-right National Front and started performing solo, giving harsh speeches about Jews. He has faced several lawsuits, his performances have been cancelled, and the country’s big media outlets have gradually closed their doors to him.  

The comedian has been convicted of making racist statements in at least six cases. Most recently, in the fall, he unsuccessfully appealed his sentencing over the lyrics to a song in which he speaks about the Holocaust in an inappropriate way. 

Valls is doing his best to get the authorities to ban all of Diedonné’s performances. The minister believes they are a threat to public order.