(JTA) — A court in France scrapped a municipal ban on a performance by the anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala.

The administrative court in Nantes in western France ruled Thursday on a petition by Dieudonne to negate  the ban that the municipality imposed earlier this week at the behest of French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, the online edition of Le Monde reported.

The judge rejected the argument made by Christian de Lavernée, a municipal administrator, who banned the show on grounds that it would create a disturbance to public order and “cause offense to basic human dignity.”

The show, which will take place Thursday night in Nantes, is scheduled to be the first performance in a nationwide tour by Dieudonne of his new routine, “The Wall.”

On Jan. 6, Valls sent a letter to all French mayors assuring them they had the authority to ban shows by Dieudonne, who has been convicted seven times for inciting racial hatred against Jews with jokes about the Holocaust; calls for the liberation of Jew-killers; and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, among other actions.

He is scheduled to appear on Jan. 26 in Bordeaux, one of several French cities that have banned his show at Valls’ encouragement.

The ruling came amid criticism that Valls’ attempts to ban Dieudonne’s shows were too restrictive of freedom of expression.

Jack Lang, a Jewish former cabinet minister and heard of the Paris-based Arab World Institute, said Tuesday during a television interview that he was “convinced that [Valls’] circular does not conform to French law.” In the interview for the LCP television channel, Lang added: “Freedom of expression is the governing principle when the state places such rigorous restrictions and there need to be very strong reasons for doing so.”