The Danish Parliament on Thursday adopted a law criminalizing “inappropriate treatment” of texts with important religious significance, effectively banning the burning of the Koran, after desecration of the holy book of Islam which aroused anger in several Muslim countries during summer. After a debate of almost four hours, the text was adopted at third reading by 94 of the 179 members of Parliament.
It will now be prohibited to publicly burn, defile or kick religious texts or with the aim of widely disseminating images of desecration. It will also be forbidden to tear, cut or stab them. Any offender is liable to a sentence of two years’ imprisonment.
Protect national interests and security
For the Danish government, no representative of which spoke during the parliamentary debate, it is above all a question of protecting the interests and national security of the Scandinavian country while the terrorist threat to the country has intensified. Denmark and its neighbor Sweden have recently crystallized anger within Muslim countries. In Iraq, for example, hundreds of demonstrators supporting the influential religious leader Moqtada Sadr attempted to march towards the Danish embassy in Baghdad at the end of July.
After these unrest, the Nordic kingdom briefly strengthened its border controls, before returning to normal on August 22. Between July 21 and October 24, 2023 inclusive, 483 book burnings and flag burnings were recorded in Denmark, according to figures from the national police, which does not specify which countries these are.
Changes to the bill after criticism
Introduced at the end of August, the bill was subject to modifications following criticism denouncing restrictions on freedom of expression and difficulties in implementation. Originally, it was intended to cover the desecration of all objects of significant religious significance. But the media and associations saw it as a return to the offense of blasphemy, a 334-year-old provision which punished public insults towards religions, repealed six years ago. In addition, justice professionals feared implementation difficulties.
During the long debate in session, the opposition rose up against the government, accused of sacrificing freedom of expression. “It’s a betrayal. A huge defection on the part of the government,” said the president of the far-right Danish Democrats, Inger Støjberg.
Denmark, not the only European country to ban burning of the Koran
In 2006, a wave of anti-Danish violence engulfed the Muslim world after the publication of caricatures of Mohammed. “Imagine that we become the generation that restricts freedom of expression. I didn’t really think so, and certainly not after the Mohammed crisis. At the time, we remained firm,” added the former minister. . After the adoption of the text, the law must be published and will come into force the day after this publication.
Denmark is not the only European country to ban Koran burnings. According to the Ministry of Justice, eight European countries do so: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Poland and Romania. In Greece, for example, the burning of sacred text may be prohibited if the act takes place inside or near a religious site.