French comedian avoids jail for Charlie Hebdo joke

A French comedian has been found guilty of condoning terrorism by posting a joke on his Facebook account after Islamist attacks in Paris that killed 17 people in January, but escaped a possible jail sentence.

The Paris court gave Dieudonné M’bala M’bala a suspended sentence of two-months in jail. He had faced up to 7-years in prison and a potential €100,000 fine as a result of the charges.

Dieudonné, who has repeatedly been fined by the courts for hate speech, wrote on Facebook just days after the January attacks that he felt “like Charlie Coulibaly”.

This message was a play on the ubiquitous "I am Charlie" slogan of solidarity that followed the attack against cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo, using the last name of one of the Paris attackers.

Amedy Coulibaly killed a policewoman a day after the Charlie Hebdo attack and four members of the Jewish community in a raid on a kosher supermarket two days later. He was killed in a shootout with police at the supermarket.

“The feeling of hostility towards the Jewish community that Dieudonné kept up in front of a public attracted by his charisma increases his responsibility,” the court wrote.

Anti-Semitic statements

Dieudonné has been found guilty seven times for slander or anti-Semitic statements, while his shows have been banned in some cities as a threat to public order.

The comedian, who insists he is not anti-Semitic, is credited with inventing the “quenelle”, a gesture critics have likened to an inverted Nazi salute.

Dieudonné posted his Facebook comment on the eve of a huge public march in Paris in which more than 3.7 million people, many carrying “I am Charlie” signs, honoured the journalists, policemen and shoppers killed by the Islamist gunmen.

Dieudonné’s lawyer has declined to comment.

Reuters