France detains comedian Dieudonne over comment on Paris terrorist attacks

(Image credit: Francois Durand/Getty Images)

last updated 14 January 2015

On Wednesday, French police detained controversial comedian Dieudonné M'Bala M'bala, best know for anti-Semitic jokes and comments, on charges of defending or "apologizing for" terrorism. Dieudonné outraged a lot of people with this Facebook post on Sunday, deleted after less than an hour, mocking the media for its coverage of the massive march in Paris and combining the Charlie Hebdo–supporting slogan "Je Suis Charlie" (I Am Charlie) with the name of Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who murdered a policewoman and four hostages at a kosher supermarket:

After this historic, no legendary, march, a magic moment equal to the Big Bang which created the Universe, or in a smaller (more local) way comparable to the crowning of the (ancient Gaullish king) Vercingétorix, I am going home. Let me say that this evening, as far as I am concerned, I feel I am Charlie Coulibaly. [Dieudonné, via The Independent]

France is ramping up its antiterrorism laws in the wake of last week's deadly attacks by Islamist-linked gunman, and cracking down on any show of support for terrorism. On Monday, a man who praised the attackers during a drunken rant at a DUI traffic stop was sent to jail for four years. Dieudonné, whose now-banned stage show included Holocaust "jokes," has a sizable following in France. He defended his comments in an open letter to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, complaining that he too is being denied the right to free speech: "I am considered like another Amedy Coulibaly when in fact I am no different from Charlie."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.