Denmark parliament adopts law banning Quran burning

Denmark parliament adopts law banning Quran burning

NEW DELHI: Denmark’s parliament on Thursday adopted a law criminalising Quran burnings after a series of desecrations of Islam’s holy book sparked anger in Muslim countries in the past few months.

The bill prohibits “inappropriate treatment of writings with significant religious importance for a recognised religious community”. It was passed with 94 votes in favour and 77 opposed in the 179-seat Folketing.

The bill, now a law, has been formulated to forbid burning, tearing or otherwise defiling holy texts publicly or in videos intended to be disseminated widely.

The law also mandates a fine or up to two years in prison for those who break the law.

During the summer, Denmark and its neighbouring country, Sweden, faced widespread criticism from several Muslim nations due to a series of protests that included the burning and desecration of the Quran.

In late July, close to a thousand demonstrators sought to march towards the Danish embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone following a call by the influential cleric Moqtada Sadr.

To address the deteriorating security conditions, Denmark implemented temporary border controls, which were later lifted, returning to normal on August 22.

From July 21 to October 24 of this year, Denmark documented 483 incidents of book burnings or flag burnings, as reported by national police statistics.

Initially revealed in late August, the legislation underwent revisions in response to concerns that the initial proposal restricted freedom of expression and would be challenging to implement. The original intent was to encompass items of substantial religious significance.

Some critics, including politicians, artists, media figures, and experts on freedom of speech, expressed disapproval of the initial draft of the bill. They viewed it as a potential resurgence of a blasphemy law, which Denmark had abolished in 2017.

(With AFP input)

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