France moved Monday to try and ban performances by controversial comic Dieudonne just days before the start of a nationwide tour of a one-man show containing anti-semitic material, reports Yahoo!.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls said he had advised local prefects of police that Dieudonne's shows could be banned if they are deemed to present a threat to public order.
"With the tour about to begin, I believe I had no choice but to take action," Valls told reporters.
Authorities in the southwestern city of Bordeaux were the first to act, banning the comedian's January 26 show for undisclosed reasons, and officials elsewhere are also considering preventing him from performing.
The comedian has prompted outrage with his anti-Jewish comments -- one of his latest being quips about gas chambers -- and anti-racism protests have been planned around his upcoming shows.
Government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said there would clearly be a threat to public order around the first leg of the planned tour, due to start Thursday in the western city of Nantes.
But a ban is complicated legally in light of France's powerful constitutional provisions on the freedom of speech. Dieudonne's lawyer, Jacques Verdier, said his client would immediately appeal against any ban on him performing.
Long a controversial figure, Dieudonne's prominence has increased recently as a result of the growing popularity of his trademark arm gesture, dubbed the "quenelle".
Read more of this AFP article published by Yahoo!.