Here is a report from today's WSJ:
France Faces Court Test Over Free-Speech Case
(snip)
The government this week ordered concert halls across France to cancel shows to be performed by Dieudonné M'bala M'bala on the grounds that he represents a threat to public order. "People who attend these shows know perfectly they are political gatherings aimed at peddling hate, anti-Semitism and hate of the Jews," French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday, after ordering the ban.
(snip)
The showdown is testing France's long-standing approach of criminalizing hate speech. Contrary to the U.S., where many forms of hate speech are protected by the First Amendment, such acts as denying the Holocaust or inciting racism are crimes in France and punishable by fines, or even prison time.
(snip)
Dieudonné started as a comic in the 1990s, often performing in a duo with a Jewish teenage-hood friend, Elie Semoun. Over the past decade, he drifted toward more politicized shows and appeared less on mainstream media. In 2009, he made a failed bid for a seat in the European Parliament, running under the banner of an anti-Zionist List and garnering a tiny share of the votes.
The latest controversy began last month, when state television channel France 2 broadcast footage captured by a hidden camera and showing Dieudonné commenting about French-Jewish radio anchor Patrick Cohen during a private performance. "Me, you see, when I hear Patrick Cohen speak, I think to myself: 'Gas chambers…too bad," the comedian was showed saying on stage. Dieudonné's lawyers don't dispute the video's veracity.
More..
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304347904579308710662277206
(If you cannot open by clicking, copy and paste the title onto google)
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