Yet again - the French contradict their own principles. The rally
to protect open expression is a just cause, but they must be clear
and principled in how that is applied in society. In France, it is
illegal to deny holocaust - and here it's apparently illegal for a comedian
to express himself on Facebook for simply saying: “I feel like Charlie Coulibaly.”

So where is the line drawn?

This is an egregious contradiction that mirrors the absurdity of the French policy
banning the full-face veil.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/charlie-hebdo-french-comedian-detained-over-online-comments-1421229693

PARIS—French prosecutors Wednesday ordered stand-up comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala to stand trial next month on criminal charges of being an apologist for terrorism, after he appeared to express solidarity with one of the gunmen who stunned France last week.

The case, which comes a week after the deadly attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, highlights the challenge of drawing a line between blasphemy—which French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said this week wasn’t and would never be prosecuted—and various forms of hate speech that are regarded as criminal offenses under French law.

Mr. M’Bala M’Bala, who goes by the stage name Dieudonné, was taken into police custody early Wednesday, following online comments in which he appeared to liken himself to Amedy Coulibaly —the shooter who killed a policewoman and four people at a kosher store in two separate incidents, claiming to have acted in coordination with two brothers who massacred 12 people in the newsroom of Charlie Hebdo.

Paris prosecutors said Dieudonné was questioned about comments he made after Sunday marches in France, during which an estimated four million people paid tribute to victims of the attacks, rallying under the free-speech banner of “I am Charlie,”

A comment posted on Dieudonné’s Facebook page, which his lawyer confirmed were written by the comedian, read: “I feel like Charlie Coulibaly.”

Paris prosecutors said Dieudonné’s comments could be regarded as a call in support of terrorist actions and fall under French laws criminalizing apologists for terrorism.

Dieudonné was released Wednesday evening after nearly a full day of questioning, according to his lawyer, Jacques Verdier.

“My client’s comments aren’t, by far, an endorsement of terrorism,” Mr. Verdier said, adding Dieudonné was “harassed by French authorities.”

By Wednesday afternoon, the line in which Mr. Dieudonné mentions Mr. Coulibaly—who was killed in a police raid at the kosher store—no longer appeared on the comedian’s Facebook page.

Instead, the page carried a comment in which the comedian says he supported the Charlie Hebdo victims and took part in the march to defend freedom of speech. “I only seek to make people laugh, laugh about death the same way death laughs about us,” the post reads.

For years, Dieudonné has tested the limits of free speech in France with comments that have been called hate speech and anti-Semitic by government officials, including France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Dieudonné has rejected the accusations, saying his attitude is no different from Charlie Hebdo’s.

Since last week, French authorities have moved to crack down on those who glorify the attacks amid fears they could encourage would-be terrorists to act.

Since the attacks, several people across France have been detained for condoning terrorism, with some already convicted. Kamal Belaidi was sentenced to a four-year jail term on Monday after overtly hailing the killing of the three police officers and shouting “Allahu akbar” to police officers at the scene of a car accident in the northern French town of Valenciennes, the local deputy prosecutor, Christophe Delattre, said Tuesday.

“We must act with a total severity on those who express racism, anti-Semitism or against Islam—as mosques were also targeted,” French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told French radio, while Dieudonné was being questioned by police.

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