European Court of Human Rights: Freedom of speech does not include Holocaust denial

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an appeal from comedian Dieudonné Mbala Mbala against the fact that the French justice system has fined him for disseminating hatred. Freedom of speech, according to the Court, does not cover anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial.

The 49-year-old closed a performance in December 2008 by inviting a prominent Holocaust denier onstage and allowing him to be given an award by an extra dressed in a uniform reminiscent of those worn by concentration camp prisoners, for which he was fined EUR 10 000. The case is just one of many in which he has been charged, convicted and given especially high fines; in Belgium he faces prison time.