The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Tuesday rejected claims [press release, PDF] from French comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala that his rights to speak freely were denied when he was convicted of and fined for hate crimes due to a 2008 performance that ended with comments and actions directed towards the Jewish community. The court determined [Human Rights Europe report] “that human rights law does not protect negationist and anti-Semitic performances,” finding the application inadmissible. According to a press release from the court, “the performance, even if satirical or provocative, … was not protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF].” M’bala M’bala has caused controversy in recent years. As of March 2014, he had been charged with violating anti-hate laws 38 times in recent years, and earlier this year, he was convicted of condoning terrorism [NYT reports].

In January the UN General Assembly [official website] held its first meeting devoted to anti-Semitism after 37 countries requested such a meeting [JURIST report]. In January 2014 a French administrative appeals court upheld [text, in French] a ban on performances from M’bala M’bala. The anti-Semitism and the freedom of expression in relation to the Holocaust continue to be controversial topics internationally. France has dealt with this issue over Internet speech, which has generated much discussion [JURIST op-ed]. In November 2012 the ECHR upheld an injunction preventing the activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) [advocacy website] from using Holocaust images in an animal rights poster campaign. In April 2010 a German court convicted [JURIST report] a UK bishop for denying the Holocaust. As legislation is passed worldwide banning the denial of genocide, governments are increasingly being called to balance freedom of expression and human rights [JURIST op-ed].