Dieudonné faces Swiss legal case for racist comments
Controversial French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala is facing legal proceedings in Geneva, accused of using racist speech during shows he gave in western Switzerland.
This content was published on
1 minute
RTS/jc
He has been summoned to appear before judicial authorities in Geneva on January 17, reports Swiss broadcaster RTS.
A complaint has been brought by the Coordination against Antisemitism and Defamation (CICAD), which says Dieudonné denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers during shows in Nyon and Geneva, violating Swiss criminal laws on racism and anti-Semitism.
“We don’t want Switzerland becoming a playing field for anti-Semites and racists,” CICAD secretary general John Garfinkel told RTS on Saturday evening. He said his organisation hopes to get a conviction.
The comic has a string of convictions for inciting hatred against Jews and is the inventor of the controversial “quenelle” hand gesture. In France and Belgium he has had to pay tens of thousands of Euros in fines for racial slander, defamation and hate speech.
In 2015 the European Court of Human Rights, ruling against Dieudonné, deemed that negationist speech could not be equated with freedom of expression.
More
More
Swiss court judges ‘quenelle’ gesture to be racist
This content was published on
A young man who was photographed using it in front of a Geneva synagogue, along with two companions, was pronounced guilty of racial discrimination by the country’s highest court. A photograph of three young men, including one in military uniform, performing the “quenelle” salute in front of a synagogue in Geneva was published in the…
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
This content was published on
The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
This content was published on
An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Controversial French comic expected in Switzerland
This content was published on
In a series of events on Thursday, a court in the French city of Nantes, where he was supposed to start his tour that day, first overturned a ban on his performance. The French government, which has accused Dieudonné of insulting the memory of Holocaust victims and threatening public order with anti-Semitic jibes, quickly moved to appeal the decision.…
The legal difficulties of online expression in Switzerland
This content was published on
Drawing the line between freedom of expression and discrimination is a nuanced minefield in the age of social media, as a case in Switzerland shows.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.