Dieudonne Mbala Mbala

French authorities are trying to ban a comedian from fielding candidates in European polls because they believe he holds anti-Semitic opinions.

Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala is going on trial later on Tuesday on charges of inciting hatred against Jews. The 42-year-old stand-up comic plans to present candidates in at least five of France's regions in June's polls.

Already fined two years ago for accusing Jewish people of what he called memorial pornography, the half-Cameroonian comedian is now facing trial on charges of inciting hatred against Jews.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief-of-staff said on a Jewish radio station that it was odious that someone with such openly anti-Semitic views should be allowed to present himself for elections.

Dieudonne reacted to the criticism by calling the president's aide a good little soldier of the Zionist lobby.

Most of France's main political parties oppose Dieudonne's electoral initiative but some politicians have warned against public debate in case it generates publicity for his views.

A court in Paris has fined the French stand-up comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala €20,000 (US$ 30,000) over an allegedly anti-Semitic stunt during a show in which he invited a notorious Holocaust denier onto stage.

Dieudonné was ordered to pay €10,000 for his public anti-Semitic insults and a further €10,000 in damages and legal fees to organizations that sued him. He was prosecuted after he invited Robert Faurisson, a convicted Holocaust denier, onto stage during a comedy show to receive a satirical award from an actor dressed as a Jewish deportee. The comedian admitted at the hearing that the show had been a comedy bomb attack but defended his right to free expression.

Dieudonné, a former anti-racism campaigner whose father originated from Cameroon, often courts controversy and earlier this year tried to enter politics by standing for the European parliament as head of an anti-Zionist party.

In September 2007, Dieudonné was fined after he accused Jews of exploiting memorial pornography and attacked a Zionist lobby which cultivates the idea of their unique suffering ... and has declared war on the black world. Two months later, he was back in court and was fined €5,000 for having compared Jews to slave-traders.

A performance by the French comedian Dieudonn้ in London has been cancelled following complaints from the Jewish community, the Jewish Chronicle reports. Dieudonn้ M'bala M'bala, who was last year fined by a French court for performing an anti-Semitic sketch, was due to perform in Kensington this weekend.

Dieudonn้ previously stood for the European Parliament as head of the Anti-Zionist Party, which he formed together with Alain Soral, an ex-member of the extreme-right National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen.

After discovering that he was due to appear in London, campaigners urged the hotel where the comedian was due to appear to reject the booking and cancel the event.

A spokesman for the Millennium Gloucester Hotel and Conference Centre said: It's not going to take place. We had an enquiry from someone representing Dieudonn้ and then recently we had some calls from the Jewish community, telling us what the situation is with him. We decided not to pursue the booking and now it will not happen.

Update: Not Cancelled

19th April 2010. Thanks to Elodie

The show has not been cancelled, it rescheduled to the Savoy Theatre. here is the video