March 13, 2006
A Paris court has fined the black comedian Dieudonné € 5,000 (US$ 6,000) for inciting racial hatred with comments comparing Jews to slave traders. Dieudonné, who is known in France for his very polemic humor and says he wants to run in next year's presidential election in France, had lashed out at critics who "founded their empires and fortunes on the trade in blacks and slavery." The current suit against the comedian deals with his statements from an interview given to the "Journal du Dimanche" in February 2004. Prosecutors have accused him of attacking Jews "under cover of stigmatizing his detractors." Last September Dieudonné was acquitted from a similar charge, brought against him for dressing up as an Orthodox Jew and giving a Nazi salute.
