Comedian Dieudonné was expected on Saturday August 19 in Lyon for a performance of his show entitled Sous bracelet. But the town hall of Lyon announced in a press release, published Thursday August 17, that it had signed an order prohibiting the show. This decision, taken “in order to guarantee respect for public order”, comes the day after a similar decision by the mayor of Toulouse. Performances of the same show have already been banned in other cities, including Montpellier and Paris.
The Lyon representation had been announced for Saturday August 19 on the Dieudonné website. The exact location was to be communicated to people who purchased a ticket, a few hours before its start, the statement said.
The city of Lyon recalls that Dieudonné has been the subject of “numerous criminal convictions for having held negationist speeches, inciting racial hatred or glorifying terrorism”. “Faced with the risk of public order disturbances, the prefect of the Rhône fully supports the decision of the mayor of Lyon to ban Dieudonné’s show”, it is specified. It “invites the mayors of other municipalities in the department to make the same arrangements if the location of the performance changes”.
Tuesday evening in a press release, the Crif Auvergne Rhône-Alpes had expressed its “deep concern about the next performances” in Lyon by Dieudonné, one scheduled for this Saturday, the other in December, and called on the mayor of the city to “act with responsibility”.
Several performances are scheduled in August, according to the Dieudonné site, such as in Grenoble or Auxerre. Since 2002, Dieudonné has been the subject of numerous legal proceedings. He was notably sentenced in September 2020 to a fine of 10,000 euros for racist remarks made in June 2017 during his show Le Bal des quenelles.
