In 2009, deprived of a venue in Villeneuve d'Ascq, Dieudonné had withdrawn into a bus to play his show.

-

M.Libert / 20 Minutes

  • Dieudonné and his partner were to be tried in Lille for fraud and concealment of fraud.

  • They are accused of having rented rooms under spurious pretexts so that the controversial comedian can perform his show there.

  • Neither the defendants nor their counsel made the trip, the latter explaining that they were not aware of the date of the hearing.

This Thursday, the comedian Dieudonné and his companion, Noémie Montagne, were to be tried respectively for concealment of fraud and fraud before the Lille criminal court.

The couple are accused of having, between January 2018 and February 2019, rented rooms in Roubaix, Marcq-en-Barœul and the Chapelle d'Armentières under false pretenses so that the controversial comedian can perform his show there.

Neither of them showed up for the hearing.

When the case was called by the bailiff, hardly anyone was there.

There was indeed the lawyer of the Public Condition, one of the three civil parties… However, the hearing was planned for a long time and the president had reserved a time slot of 2:30, anticipating extended debates.

Before the magistrate got angry, the prosecutor claimed to have had a telephone exchange with the counsel for the defendants: neither the lawyer nor the couple were aware of the hearing date.

The bailiff responsible for delivering the summons to appear having found the door closed and the registered letters never having been recovered.

Tried in another case the same day in Paris

According to his lawyer, the couple was also to be tried this Thursday for another case before the Paris Criminal Court.

In order not to risk an opposition from the defendants, the president decided not to judge the case by default and set a new date, next June 25.

What the court was to judge this Thursday has nothing to do with the controversial content of the comments made in the show that Dieudonné gave at the time of the facts.

Well, a little bit anyway.

If the couple then used to reserve rooms for "cosmetic presentations" or for "theatrical conferences", it is because the name of Dieudonne was scary.

In the three cases at issue at this hearing, the civil parties therefore decided to file a fraud complaint after discovering, often too late, the fraud.

False workshops and real performances

The first victim is the Condition publique in Roubaix.

The place had been reserved by the company "The Spirit of the Forest" on behalf of Noémie Montagne for a "cosmetic presentation" on January 28, 2018. Except that when the public arrived at the time of the show, the director, Jean-Claude Levassor, saw that something was wrong.

When Dieudonné arrived, he let the show play so as not to risk incidents.

The next day, a private room in the Chapelle d'Armentières was the victim of the same scenario.

The Salons Kennedy had been reserved by another company, Les productions de la plume, still in the name of Noémie Montagne, for a “theatrical workshop”.

Again, the controversial comedian had been able to perform his show.

The last charge against the couple in the context of this trial dates from February 1, 2019. There, it is the Hippodrome de Marcq-en-Barœul which had been reserved, again by the company "The spirit of the forest".

But the town hall had discovered the trick upstream and had taken a municipal decree to ban the show.

Order suspended by the Lille administrative court seized by Dieudonné.

This time again, the show was able to unfold.

Justice

VIDEO.

Dieudonné sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling more than one million euros

Justice

Dieudonné fined 10,000 euros for racist comments

  • Fraud

  • Justice

  • Dieudonne

  • Lille