Court overturns ban on 'anti-Semitic' comedian's one-man show
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday rushed to the country's highest constitutional court to appeal against the lifting of a ban on a one-man show by comedian Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala, who is widely accused of anti-Semtism.
Issued on: Modified:
A court in the western French city of Nantes on Thursday suspended a regional official's ban on Dieudonné's show, Le Mur (The Wall), due to take place the same evening at a local concert hall, the Zénith.
The performance, which kicks off a tour of France by the controversial comic, "cannot be seen as having the infringement of human dignity as its essential aim", the court said.
A hypothetical threat to public order, which officials failed to show that they did not have the means to deal with, did not provide the basis for "such a radical measure" as the ban, it ruled.
Valls earlier issued a circular urging officials to prevent Dieudonné's appearances on the grounds that they were anti-Semitic.
As soon as the news came through, the interior minister announced his intention of appealing against the judgement to France's Constitutional Council.
"Faced with the mechanics of hatred, firmness, calm and perseverance are needed," a ministry statement said.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe