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Dieudonné (L) sparked outrage in December 2008 when he had an actor dressed as a Jewish deportee present the prize for "unrespectability and insolence" to Robert Faurisson (R), an academic who has denied the existence of the Holocaust.
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PARIS (AFP)---A French comic will go on trial next month on charges of anti-Semitism after he awarded a prize to a Holocaust denier during a comedy show, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Dieudonne sparked outrage when he had an actor dressed as a Jewish deportee
present the prize for "unrespectability and insolence" to Robert Faurisson, an academic who has denied the existence of the Holocaust.
Extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who recently caused an uproar for again calling Nazi gas chambers a "detail of World War II history," was in the audience during the show on December 29 at the Zenith, one of Paris' biggest concert halls.
The Paris criminal court will begin hearing the case on May 5, the prosecutor's office said.
The black comedian, whose full name is Dieudonné Mbala Mbala, has over the
past years been ordered to pay several fines for inciting hatred.
Dieudonne, 42, faces a possible sentence of six months in prison and a maximum fine of 22,500 euros (29,800 dollars) if convicted.
In September 2007, he was fined 7,000 euros after he accused Jews of "memorial pornography" for their remembrance of the Holocaust during a press conference in Algeria in 2005.
In the same conference he attacked "the Zionist lobby which cultivates the idea of their unique suffering ... and has declared war on the black world."
Last month, the comedian born to a Cameroonian father again caused a stir
after he announced plans to run as an "anti-Zionist" candidate in the June
elections to the European parliament.
Dieudonné is to answer charges of causing offense to a group of persons
based on their origin, ethnic background, race or religion, a judicial source said.
Several city councils had decided to cancel shows by the comedian over the
past months.
France’s Culture Minister Christine Albanel called Dieudonné’s show a provocation" that "is hurtful and offensive."