Controversial French comic Dieudonné arrested over terrorism remark

The anti-Semitic French comedian who coined the ‘quenelle’ gesture says he relates to the terrorist who murdered four people at a kosher supermarket in Paris last week.

Dieudonne has been detained for defending terrorism after posting the comments on Facebook which he since deleted

Dieudonné M’Bala M’bala, 48, who has several convictions for making anti-Semitic comments and jokes, grew to prominence a year ago for the gesture commonly known as an inverted Nazi salute. 

This week, the controversial comic inverted the popular ‘Je suis Charlie’ tag, which became synonymous with the outpouring of support for satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, saying: “As far as I am concerned, I feel I am Charlie Coulibaly.”

It comes after Amedy Coulibaly, 34, killed a policewoman then stormed a kosher supermarket, killing four people and taking others hostage. It later transpired that Coulibaly was working with the Kouachi brothers, who attacked the magazine.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Dieudonne’s remark was “contemptible”, as French prosecutors outlined that they are investigating the comedian for “inciting terrorism”, by showing sympathy for the terrorists actions last week.