The text, which concerns more generally the contempt of “religious writings”, was voted by parliament.
The Danish parliament adopted this Thursday a controversial law which prohibits the “inappropriate treatment” of religious writings, such as the Bible, the Torah or the Koran, but which in fact concerns more specifically the latter.
The sacred book for Muslims has in fact been burned several times in recent months in Sweden, and, to a lesser extent, in Denmark.
It will now be forbidden to publicly burn, defile or kick religious texts. It will also be forbidden to tear, cut or stab them.
Any offender is liable to a sentence of two years’ imprisonment.
For the Danish government, it is above all a question of protecting the interests and national security of the Scandinavian country as the terrorist threat to the country has intensified.
A violation of freedom of expression?
Critics of the law denounce the sacrifice of freedom of expression. Some media and associations see this as a return to the offense of blasphemy, a 334-year-old provision which punished public insults towards religions, repealed six years ago.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.
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.
