PARIS: Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, a black comedian in France known for his polemic and often political humour, was on Friday fined 5,000 euros (6,000 dollars) for comparing Jews to slave-traders in a newspaper interview two years ago.

It was the first conviction for anti-Semitism for the comic, who has often been in legal hot water for controversial comments about Jews, but who up to now has been acquitted on grounds of free speech.

The Paris court found that in this instance he had overstepped that line in an interview with the Feb 8, 2004, edition of Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper in which he described the hostility he had received from Jewish groups.

“‘Dirty nigger, the Jews want to skin you’ — that’s the sort of remarks I’ve been hearing. They (Jews) are all slave-traders who have turned to banking, show-business and, today, terrorist action who show their support for (ex-Israeli premier) Ariel Sharon’s policies,” Dieudonne was quoted as saying.—AFP