The Franco-Cameroonian polemicist Dieudonné was sentenced on appeal in Geneva for remarks made during shows in 2019 in Switzerland, said Sunday the Geneva Grandstand on his site.
Already convicted in France on numerous occasions for racial insults or incitement to hatred, Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala had been sentenced in July 2021 at first instance in Geneva for “racial discrimination, defamation and insult”. This was his first conviction in Switzerland.
Not him, but his character
According to information obtained by the Geneva Grandstandthe Geneva Criminal Appeal and Review Chamber confirmed this sentence, namely the payment of 180 day-fines at 170 francs per day, or 30,600 francs (28,200 euros).
At issue in this case, the negationist comments on the gas chambers that Dieudonné made one of his characters make in his show between January 4 and 6, 2019, at the Théâtre de Marens in Nyonand on June 28 and 29, 2019, at the CAC Voltaire Cinema Animation Center in Geneva.
During his trial, Dieudonné claimed that it was not he who said the phrase during the show, but his “character”. The argument had been swept away by the president of the Geneva police court, and the court of appeal has just done the same.
According to this court, quoted by the Tribune de Genève, the artist expressed “his contempt for the victims of the Shoah and his desire to create controversy” and undermined “human dignity and public peace”. .
“It cannot be held that he parodied a negationist, like Charlie Chaplin parodying Hitler (…) in the absence of any verbal or clothing element going in this direction”, writes the judge of the court Vincent Fournier, always quoted by the newspaper.
“It’s a victory for the Cicad”
The trial court had also found him guilty of “insulting” the Swiss Intercommunity Coordination Against Antisemitism and Defamation (Cicad)for remarks made with regard to this non-profit association during the performance of June 28, 2019.
The polemicist had also been convicted of “defamation” for remarks made on November 22, 2019 concerning the secretary general of the Cicad, Johanne Gurfinkiel, during an interview given on a YouTube channel in Geneva.
According to the newspaper, the polemicist will also have to pay the appeal costs (2,195 francs). But also the defense costs (2,638 francs) of the Cicad and those of its secretary general. The decision of the Criminal Appeal and Review Chamber against Dieudonné was handed down on April 28, Johanne Gurfinkiel told AFP on Sunday.
“With this decision, the Court of Justice confirms the entirety of the first instance judgment and finds Dieudonné guilty of racial discrimination, defamation and insult”, he said. “It’s a victory for Cicad”.
Dieudonné again in Switzerland in June?
He stresses, however, that recent information on performances in Switzerland does not fail to challenge the Cicad, before specifying: “With his “Dieudobus”, he should survey French-speaking Switzerland in June, in particular Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchâtel “.