COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Danish authorities on Friday stated it’s going to suggest a legislation that may make it unlawful to desecrate any holy guide in Denmark, the place a latest string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists has sparked offended demonstrations in Muslim nations.
Denmark has been considered as a rustic that facilitates insults and denigration of the cultures, religions and traditions of different nations, the federal government stated.
The middle-right authorities seeks to increase Denmark’s current ban on burning overseas flags by additionally “prohibiting improper remedy of objects of great spiritual significance to a spiritual neighborhood,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard stated.
“The invoice will make it punishable, for instance, to burn the Quran or the Bible in public. It’ll solely goal at actions in a public place or with the intention of spreading in a wider circle,” Hummelgaard stated. He stated such acts can be punishable by fines or as much as two years in jail.
Hummelgaard advised a information convention that the latest protests have been “mindless taunts that don’t have any different objective than to create discord and hatred.”
Denmark’s authorities has repeatedly distanced itself from the desecrations, however has insisted that freedom of expression is likely one of the most essential values in Danish society. It stated that may not be affected by the proposed legislation.
Freedom of expression is “a cornerstone of Danish democracy, and the liberty to precise oneself is a central worth in Danish society,” Hummelgaard stated. The proposal is “a focused intervention which doesn’t change the truth that freedom of expression should have a really broad framework in Denmark,” he stated.
International Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen stated there have been greater than 170 protests, together with many with Quran burnings, in entrance of the embassies of Muslim nations, and that the proposed change is “an essential political sign that Denmark needs to ship out to the world.”
Final month, he stated the federal government would search to legally stop burnings of the Quran or different spiritual scriptures, however added that there should “be room for spiritual criticism” and that there have been no plans to reintroduce a blasphemy clause that was repealed in 2017.
The invoice might be introduced to lawmakers on Sept. 1 and might be “handled if obligatory earlier than the top of the parliamentary 12 months,” which is earlier than Christmas, the Justice Ministry stated.
The invoice is not going to cowl verbal or written statements, together with drawings, the federal government stated.
In 2006, Denmark was on the heart of widespread anger within the Muslim world after a newspaper posted 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, together with one sporting a bomb as a turban.
Muslims think about photos of the prophet to be sacrilegious and inspiring idolatry. The photographs escalated into violent anti-Denmark protests by Muslims worldwide.