France's Socialist government has claimed a last-gasp victory in its battle to prevent a controversial stand-up comic from launching a nationwide tour with a show widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
Less than two hours before the comic, Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, was due to take the stage on Thursday in the western city of Nantes, France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, overturned a local judge's ruling that the show should be allowed to go ahead.
The decision was greeted with boos and jeers by hundreds of the comedian's fans who had assembled outside the Zenith theatre in anticipation of watching a performer the government has branded a "pedlar of hate" and who has been repeatedly convicted under anti-racism legislation.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who has led the campaign to deny the comedian, who goes by his first name, Dieudonne, a platform in France, hailed the ruling as a victory for the country's fundamental values.
"We cannot tolerate hatred of others, racism, anti-Semitism or holocaust denial," Valls said.
Lawyers for the government had argued that the fundamentally racist nature of the comedian's act meant it could not be afforded protection under France's constitutional provisions on freedom of speech.
The Council of State's decision to uphold the ban on Dieudonne in Nantes leaves the rest of a tour, scheduled to run until June in doubt, although planned dates in neighbouring Belgium and Switzerland are expected to go ahead in line with recent legal rulings in those countries.
In court, Dieudonne's lawyer rejected suggestions that the "quenelle" - a stiff-arm gesture that has become his signature and helped fuel his fame - had anti-Semitic overtones.
The quenelle, which involves holding the right arm straight while pointing it towards the ground and touching the right bicep with the left hand, has been described as a disguised Nazi salute.
Dieudonne's supporters argue that it is simply a light-hearted "up yours" gesture directed at France's establishment.
Dieudonne, now 47, started his career as part of a double act with a Jewish childhood friend, Elie Semoun.
But the pair have been estranged for years and the content of Dieudonne's act has since veered from satirising racism to celebrating and promoting it, his critics say.
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