Denmark adopts legislation banning burning of Koran and different holy texts | EUROtoday

Issued on: 07/12/2023 – 16:52

2 min

The invoice, which prohibits “inappropriate treatment of writings with significant religious importance for a recognised religious community”, was handed with 94 votes in favour and 77 opposed within the 179-seat Folketing.

“We must protect the security of Denmark and the Danes. Therefore, it is important that we now have better protection against the systematic insults we have seen for a long time,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard stated in a press release.

In sensible phrases, it will likely be forbidden to burn, tear or in any other case defile holy texts publicly or in movies meant to be disseminated extensively.

Those who break the legislation, which can be evaluated after three years, danger a nice or as much as two years in jail.

Over the summer season, Denmark and neighbouring Sweden turned the main focus of anger throughout a number of Muslim international locations after a slew of protests involving burnings and desecrations of the Koran.

Watch extraSwedish embassy in Iraq stormed: Protesters angered over Koran burning in Sweden

Nearly a thousand protesters tried to march to the Danish embassy in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone in late July following a name by firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr.

In response to the worsened safety scenario, the Scandinavian nation quickly tightened border controls, however returned to regular on August 22.

Between July 21 and October 24 this yr, 483 e book burnings or flag burnings had been recorded in Denmark, in response to nationwide police figures.

Criticism

Initially introduced on the finish of August, the invoice was amended following criticism that its first draft restricted freedom of expression and could be troublesome to implement.

It was initially deliberate to cowl objects of serious non secular significance.

The first draft was additionally criticised by some — together with politicians, artists, media and freedom of speech specialists — as a return to a blasphemy legislation that Denmark abolished in 2017.

During a prolonged debate in parliament forward of the vote, opposition lawmakers railed towards the federal government, accusing it of sacrificing freedom of expression.

“It is a betrayal. A huge failure on the part of the government,” Inger Stojberg, chief of far-right Denmark Democrats, instructed parliament.

In 2006, a wave of anti-Danish anger and violence erupted within the Muslim world following the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

“Imagine that we are becoming the generation that curtailed freedom of speech. I hadn’t actually thought this would be — and certainly not after the Muhammad crisis. Back then, we stood firm,” Stojberg stated.

In neighbouring Sweden, the federal government has condemned desecrations of the Koran at protests whereas upholding the nation’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and meeting legal guidelines.

It has vowed to discover authorized technique of stopping protests involving the burning of holy texts in sure circumstances.

Denmark is just not the one European nation to have banned burnings of the Koran.

According to Denmark’s justice ministry, eight European international locations — Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania — accomplish that to various levels.

In Greece, for instance, the burning of a sacred textual content might be banned if the act takes place in or close to a non secular website.

(AFP)