French comedian sentenced to suspended jail term over "inciting terrorism"

A Paris court on Wednesday sentenced the controversial comedian, Dieudonne, to a suspended two months in jail for allegedly inciting terrorism after deadly Paris attacks claimed the lives of 17 people in January.

The court found Dieudonne guilty of "hate speech" after he wrote on his Facebook account: "Tonight, as far as I'm concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly" in reference to both the fatal shooting at the office of satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, and Amedy Coulibaly, who shot dead a policewoman and four hostages at a kosher supermarket two months ago.

Escaping a jail term of up to seven years, the comedian has to pay a 30,000 euro fine (about 31,850 U.S. dollars), the court added.

Dieudonne, 49, has been repeatedly fined for hate speech and anti-Semitic language. His show, "The Wall," was banned by the French authorities on the grounds that it was considered a threat that could disturb the public order. Endite