Controversial French comic Dieudonné M’bala
M’bala appeared in court in Paris on Wednesday, charged with condoning
the deadly terrorist attacks that rocked Paris early last month.
Dieudonné, as he is known in France,
was arrested on Jan. 14 after he posted a message on Facebook which
read, in part, “I feel like Charlie Coulibaly” — a reference to the
targeted satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, as well as Amedy Coulibaly, who carried out attacks against a lone policewoman and a kosher supermarket.Dieudonné told the court that he condemned the attacks “without any hesitation or ambiguity,” according to multiple reports.
He said he had felt excluded from the historic anti-terror march in Paris on Jan. 11, and that he received no response from Interior Ministry officials after his lawyers sought permission for the comedian to participate in the march. He said he ultimately participated in a march in Eure-et-Loir, the French region he calls home.
Prosecutors are seeking to impose a penalty of more than $34,000 against the comedian, who could face jail time if he is convicted and doesn’t pay the fine. They called on the court to consider the context in which the comments were made, as well as Dieudonné’s past provocative comments, Le Monde reported.
The comedian, who has previously been convicted nine times of promoting racial hatred in France, has a long history of controversial behavior that many have labeled anti-Semitic.
His arrest and prosecution has raised questions of freedom of speech in France, where many government officials vowed to protect the freedom of expression of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and its slain employees.
