French polemicist Dieudonné M'bala M'bala was acquitted on appeal on Thursday in Paris after a lower court found him guilty of a racist insult in 2020 for calling actress and writer Rachel Khan a "negress."
Dieudonné was convicted for declaring in a video on 6 October 2020 in a response to Rachel Khan: "At the end of the day, you will always remain a poor Negress."
Considered one of the best comedians of his generation in France, Dieudonné is a polemic personality and has often given expression to anti-Semitism.
On 15 September 2022, the Paris Correctional Court sentenced him to a €10,000 fine which, if unpaid, can be transformed to prison time. He appealed and, on Thursday, the Appeal Court ruled in his favour, acquitting him. Its reasons for doing so were not immediately available.
Related News
- French rapper withdrawn from Namur festival over antisemitic tweet
- Dieudonné calls his fans to Antwerp, where his show was banned
- A decree by the Saint Gilles mayor bans the protest organised by Dieudonné
- The Brussels Civil Court rules Dieudonné lied about his show
"We are really very happy to have been heard since Dieudonné has been defining himself for a long time now as a 'Negro' and he does not find the word insulting, absolutely not," his attorney, Karim Laouafi commented.
Born in 1966 to a Camerounian accountant father and a sociologist mother from Brittany, France, Dieudonné has both French and Cameroonian nationality.
Ms. Khan's lawyer, Richard Malka, said she would lodge an appeal with the Court of Cassation.
The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism, LICRA, which was a civil party in this case, has also announced that it will appeal to the Court of Cassation.
