French Comic Dieudonne Fined for Anti-Semitic Comments
A French court on Thursday fined Dieudonne 22,500 euros ($24,000) for anti-Semitic comments, the second time in two days the French comic has been convicted for his controversial remarks.
If he fails to pay the entire fine for incitement to racial hatred, he faces a stretch in prison.
In one of his shows, Dieudonne rounds off one rant about radio presenter Patrick Cohen with the observation: "Gas chambers ... a shame."
The court decided that the controversial comedian was targeting Cohen because he is Jewish.
Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala was also convicted for his comments about Nazis and Jews.
He said: "I can't choose between the Nazis and the Jews. I'm neutral in this whole affair. I wasn't born. What happened? Who provoked whom? I've got an idea but ..."
Dieudonne said this was purely for "comic effect" and denies anti-Semitism.
It caps a bad week for the comic, who was on Wednesday handed a two-month suspended sentence for condoning terrorism after a comment suggesting he sympathized with one of the jihadists who attacked Paris.
The polemicist was arrested on January 14 after writing "I feel like Charlie Coulibaly" on Facebook, a mix of the slogan "Je suis Charlie" that became a global rallying cry against extremism and Amedy Coulibaly, one of the assailants who killed a policewoman and four Jews.
The comedian has often made headlines, most notably with his trademark "quenelle" hand gesture that looks like an inverted Nazi salute, but which he insists is merely anti-establishment.
Source: Agence France Presse
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