Dieudonné arrested over Facebook post on Paris gunman

[Man from Pickens]

Notorious French comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala has been arrested for being an “apologist for terrorism” after suggesting on Facebook that he sympathised with one of the Paris gunmen, a judicial source has said.

Prosecutors had opened the case against him on Monday after he wrote “Tonight, as far as I’m concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly” – mixing the slogan “Je suis Charlie”, used in tribute to the journalists killed at magazine Charlie Hebdo, with a reference to gunman Amédy Coulibaly. Dieudonné was arrested on Wednesday.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/14/dieudonne-arrest-facebook-post-charlie-coulibaly-paris-gunman

7 days from rhetorically idolizing free speech to criminalizing it. Way to go, Frenchies.

[sabrina 1]

1. Reminds me of the hypocrisy of the Saudis, who denounced the killings a 'terrorist act' and then

began to carry out their sentence on a blogger who had dared to say some things about the Saudi reaction to things like Valentine's Day.

He was sentenced to 1000 lashes. They began the sentence with 50 lashes right after their condemnation of the French murders.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Something for this Jew-hating scum to add to his repertoire.

I disagree with the arrest of this rancid anti-Semite.

[uppityperson]

3. "'Free Speech' is not an absolute value, either here or in France, but a social construct, ...

posted elsewhere on DU. France has never had total freedom to write, say, publish everything. Certain types have been illegal for a long time. It is preferable to arrest those breaking the law rather than shoot and kill them though.

"'Free Speech' is not an absolute value, either here or in France, but a social construct, contingent to an extent upon local conditions."

[Luminous Animal]

10. Indeed. Speech is free only when we (the collective norm) agree with that speech.

U.S. citizens calling for the death of ALL Muslims, repugnant but freeeeeeeeee. Muslims calling for the death of those who torture, surveil, drone, displace, and bomb their compatriots on a continuous basis spanning a decade + with no end in sight… repugnant and not free.

And yes, the U.S. is prosecuting Muslims for exercising their 1st Amendment rights.

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/06/police-increasingly-monitoring-criminalizing-online-speech/

[LittleBlue]

4. So much for this warm and fuzzy talk about free expression

I can't take all this talk about free expression in France seriously. The idea he is expressing is repugnant. It is an idea, though. Not incitement to violence, not an attempt to cause a panic in a crowded theater.

Outlawing the expression of an idea is where the free speech is violated.

[Daemonaquila]

5. France, France...

Compared to some of the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo, this is bloody nothing. It doesn't matter what the speech is, if you support freedom of speech. Yes, France has different definitions of "freedom of speech" than the U.S. does. However, as the OP says, if you're going to champion free speech after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, you also have to keep your mitts off Dieudonne.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Hmm. Incitement to violence should be criminal, but I'm not convinced that this is.

Much as I loathe him, I think that expressing sympathy for murderers is not quite the same thing as encouraging more murders, and should probably be legal.

[PoliticAverse]

7. "Comedian to stand trial as France cracks down on hate speech"

Paris (AFP) - Controversial French comedian Dieudonne was arrested Wednesday and will stand trial over a Facebook comment suggesting he sympathised with one of the Paris attackers, as France cracks down on those who condone terrorism.

The arrest was one of 54 cases for "condoning terrorism" or "making threats to carry out terrorist acts" opened since Islamist gunmen last week killed 17 people in a three-day shooting spree that targeted the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, police and a Jewish supermarket.

Read the rest at: http://news.yahoo.com/french-comedian-dieudonnes-arrest-sparks-free-speech-debate-150125064.html

[Ykcutnek]

8. Sympathizing with a mass murderer is just one step away from

carrying out a similar act. The French did the right thing by removing this threat to the public.

[Man from Pickens]

9. Are you serious?

If that's one step, then step two must be something on the order of extinguishing all the stars in the universe. Get a sense of proportion.

[LeftyMom]

11. Looking through my CD collection I can find songs expressing sympathy for:

murder, arson, terrorism and fantasizing about armed rebellion and cannibalism. Should the people who write and sing those songs go to the pokey, and do I need to go too for singing along?

How about authors?

Dieudonne is a bag of dicks, but treating his stupidity like it's dangerous enough to merit official attention gives him more credit and cachet. It's not only a bad idea in terms of maintaining a principle of free expression, it's absolutely abysmal strategy because it only raises his profile and the respect he gets from his audience.

[Tanuki]

13. Can you believe you got alerted?

On Wed Jan 14, 2015, 10:55 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

Looking through my CD collection I can find songs expressing sympathy for:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6087373

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

"a bag of dicks"...Disparaging comments about male genitals should be hidden in the same way as those made about female genitals.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Jan 14, 2015, 11:08 PM, and the Jury voted 0-7 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Yeah, I'm sure the alerter was really offended by this...not. Stop wasting my time.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Too much of a stretch for me
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Get a life alerter, and stop wallowing in false equivalency.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: It's an expression, for Christ sakes. Come to think about it, so is "for Christ sakes". I hope nobody alerts my comment within this alert. Certainly then the universe would implode.

A clear LEAVE IT.

Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: This alert is a giant bag of dicks.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

[LeftyMom]

14. I can believe it. The MRAssholes on DU really don't like me.

The feeling is mutual, fellas.

[Luminous Animal]

12. Agree. Let's round up all the U.S. citizens who voted for Clinton, Bush I, Bush II, and Obama

and prosecute them. They've mass murdered Muslims and Arabs on a massive scale.

[gashaleon]

15. re

will like to know more