Denmark passed legislation on Thursday effectively criminalizing Islamophobic Quran-burning protests on the grounds of “inappropriate treatment of writings with significant importance for a recognized religious community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a heated debate among lawmakers, the bill was passed with 94 votes in favor and 77 votes against in the 179-member Danish parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill makes it illegal to burn, tear, or defile holy texts in public or online to widely disseminate them, which means offenders can risk a fine or jail term for as many as two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill was first introduced in August but was later amended due to concerns raised within the ruling coalition about freedom of speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Danish Justice Ministry said in a statement that the law is aimed to combat “systematic mockery,” which raises terror threat levels in Denmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in August, members of the ultranationalist group Danske Patrioter, or Danish Patriots, burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The perpetrators chanted anti-Islamic slogans during the provocative act, which was carried out under police protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From July 21 to October 24, 483 book burnings or flag burnings were recorded in Denmark, according to national police figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2006, Denmark was at the centre of widespread anger in the Muslim world after a Danish newspaper posted 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, including one wearing a bomb as a turban. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muslims consider images of the prophet as being sacrilegious and encouraging idolatry. The images escalated into violent anti-Denmark protests by Muslims worldwide.
Sweden, too, is considering ways to legally limit Quran desecrations but is taking a different approach than Denmark.
It is looking into whether police should factor in national security when deciding on applications for public protests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Denmark passed legislation on Thursday effectively criminalizing Islamophobic Quran-burning protests on the grounds of “inappropriate treatment of writings with significant importance for a recognized religious community.” Following a heated debate among lawmakers, the bill was passed with 94 votes in favor and 77 votes against in the 179-member Danish parliament. The bill makes it illegal …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":99063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,31],"tags":[5934],"class_list":["post-99062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-news","tag-denmark-passes-law-banning-quran-burning"],"yoast_head":"\n