French comedian Dieudonne ordered evicted from theater

Cnaan Liphshiz

(JTA) — A Paris court ordered the eviction of the French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, who often incites racial hatred against Jews, from a theater where he has worked for the past 15 years.

The Tribunal of Major Instances of Paris re-issued the eviction order from the Main-D’or Theater on Tuesday, Le Monde reported. Dieudonne, who has been convicted at least eight times of inciting racial hatred against Jews, said he would appeal. He may remain at the theater while his appeal is processed.

In filing for eviction, the owners of the Main-d’Or Theater cited violation of the terms of the lease, which they gave to a firm owned by Dieudonne titled Bonnie Productions. But the owners showed that the theater was being used by Productions de la Plume, which is operated by a firm owned by Dieudonne, Noemie Montagne. The violation, they argued, owes to a clause in the lease contract which forbids subletting.

Dieudonne, who has declared himself legally insolvent and penniless, is believed to be using an elaborate network of accomplices, daughter companies and front businesses to evade paying fines imposed on him for his  racial hatred offenses.

Dieudonne was not present at the courtroom on Tuesday, according to Le Monde.

Last year, Dieudonne had to cancel a tour of his previous show after several mayors, acting at the request of France’s then-interior minister, Manuel Valls, issued bans declaring the event an unlawful gathering that threatens public order.

His new show contains profanities connected to Ilan Halimi, a young Parisian Jewish cellphone salesman who was tortured and murdered in 2006 by a gang of kidnappers who targeted him because he was Jewish.

Dieudonne is the promoter of the quenelle quasi-Nazi salute and the term shoananas — a mash up of the Hebrew word for Holocaust and the French one for pineapple, which he uses to suggest the Holocaust never happened without openly violating French laws forbidding such denials.

Dieudonne is the subject of an ongoing investigation by tax authorities for alleged evasion and fraud.

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