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Dieudonne banned from entering UK, This is a rare action taken
when the comedian wanted to support Nicolas Anelka,
currently facing charges from the English Football Association
for having performed a "quenelle" gesture during a match.
Good evening Maître Sanjay Mirabeau Good evening
Thank you for being with us tonight. You are Dieudonne's lawyer.
Which reasons were stated to you for denying entry to the UK?
We contacted the British Embassy in France,
we have contacted the Home Office in England.
We sent official communications so we are expecting their response.
We are actually delighted by this ban,
as we expect anything and are not surprised anymore.
And we are going to ask UK MPs... since the parliament in Britain is very powerful,
or I should say, their MPs cannot combine several mandates
so they are doing a great job. We'll ask them to raise the question with the Home Office about
this administrative procedure to ban him from the UK.
We'll show you the statement made by the Home Secretary's spokeswoman.
Theresa May's spokeswoman said in a statement:
"The Home Secretary will seek to exclude an individual from the UK
if she considers that there are public policy or public security reasons to do so."
It is not surprising for this person to fall for a lie that's been around
for almost a month and which states that the "quenelle" gesture is anti-Semitic.
We have filed complaints about the interpretation of this gesture, which I consider to be wrong.
These complaints will be resolved soon
we can already hear representatives of Community institutions,
in particular the Jewish Community, softening their stance.
What is embarrassing now is that this whole controversy
has gone too far, even as to cross the Channel.
I am not surprised: history shows how Britain
took hasty decisions based on a lie, as in the Tony Blair - Colin Powell case for example.
Fortunately, we are dealing here with a case on a smaller scale that concerns a stand-up comedian.
I am not worried about it, as it's not made to last.
Sanjay Mirabeau, when France is faced with a controversy, followed by the UK,
as well as Switzerland, as we saw it a moment ago with a Swiss representative
who regrets that the Swiss penal code does not allow prosecution of the "quenelle" gesture.
He did this gesture again today while perfoming at Nyon (Switzerland).
You are saying that we are dealing here with fabrications.
Not fabrications, rather a plain lie.
We had, for example, a sitting minister who lied about his personal assets
Here, we have the French Home Secretary who lied for political reasons
with the support of some associations to interpret a gesture.
Dieudonne stated to the press that he's had enough of this controversy
I am not racist nor anti-Semite. Why does he go on doing this gesture, if he wants to ease tensions?
Wouldn't it be better for him to just stop doing it?
If he stops doing it, it would be acknowledging possible racist overtones in that gesture
which is far from the truth.
A popular usage of this expression would be for example if I said...
without any provocation and in accordance with the code of ethics,
I could say, for example, that holding multiple offices in France
is perhaps the biggest "quenelle" from our Government.
When he makes this gesture on stage
and when we use it in colloquial language...
even Roger Cukierman clearly stated that this gesture
is not anti-Semitic, possibly an issue when performed at memorial sites related to the Holocaust.
It's a matter now of setting the records straight about something
that is clearly understood by those who attend his shows.
The rulers who discuss the "quenelle" and Dieudonne's shows are those
who are also discussing the issue of French suburbs without actually setting foot there.
What are the latest developments in your client's case?
Last time we spoke, he had to deal with a bailiff who came to issue payment orders.
Well, we have filed a complaint against this bailiff
The real question is whether the issued fines have been paid
Indeed, they have been paid,
even though it shouldn't have happened this way, my client complies with the law.
What about the cash, 650,000 euros and 15,000 dollars, found in his home? Can you confirm?
These are not the exact figures but they are close enough.
Same thing, in full transparency, this money belongs to the production company
and a portion of that money would have been for the lawyers who have worked quite hard lately
Are you paid in dollars? No, in euros, but I think the VAT was not included in the amount seized.
We have all supporting documents relating to this money in cash
I will be filing a restitution claim to the Prosecutors' Office this week
and we are asking to be indicted, by any means possible, so that we could start working on it.
One final word: when you say being delighted this evening, do you mean with the whole publicity around it?
It's not about publicity. It's about realizing, through the history of those who govern and the governed,
how a government and its legal body can go after someone by way of fiscal and criminal investigations.
This time, we could have some answers coming from what I consider to be
the most successful parliamentary democracy in the world.
So we are asking MPs to raise a question with the Home Secretary, who is going to answer without stirring up any controversy.
After all, except for the Home Secretary, counterpart to Manuel Valls, Dieudonne is nobody for Britain.
Thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me.