European rights court rules against anti-Semitic comedian
Judges rule that freedom of expression doesn’t grant French performer Dieudonne the right to deny Holocaust
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STRASBOURG, France — Europe’s top human rights court has ruled against the controversial French comic Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, saying the right to free expression does not protect anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial.
Dieudonne, as the comic is known, finished up a December 2008 show by inviting a prominent Holocaust denier on stage, then having an actor dressed to resemble a concentration camp detainee offer him a prize. He was convicted by a French court in October 2009 of hate crime charges and fined 10,000 euros. He lost repeated appeals, until finally bringing it before the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
The court noted Dieudonne’s stated desire to stage “the biggest anti-Semitic meeting since the last World War” and ruled Tuesday that the show was not a show but the expression of an ideology.
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