The Danish government discussed burning Korans and other religious texts for several hours. After all, Denmark decided to ban the burning of the Koran.
Danish parliament accepted on Thursday, a law that prohibits inappropriate treatment of religious texts.
In practice, the law prohibits burning the Koran in public.
Denmark’s 179-seat parliament passed the law with 94 votes in favor and 77 against.
The law takes effect next Thursday.
The governing parties Social Democrats, Liberals and Moderates voted in favor of the initiative. In addition, the Danish social liberal party Radikaali Venstre voted in favor of the law.
The law has defined exactly how sacred texts can be handled in the future, Dane A politician tells.
Burning, defiling, trampling or kicking scriptures is prohibited.
You can still burn the Koran in small groups, but if the activity is filmed and distributed to the general public, for example on social media, the act is considered against the law.
Wrapping scriptures in a rainbow flag is still allowed, but not in bacon.
You can still throw the Koran in a trash can in a public place, but it must be done in an “appropriate way”,
Burning of the Koran is still allowed in Sweden
Among European countries, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Germany and Austria have banned the desecration of religious texts, for example by burning.
In Sweden, burning the Koran is still allowed.
Denmark decided to review its legislation on religious texts after Sweden’s numerous Koran burnings raised anger in Muslim countries.
In addition to Sweden, far-right groups have burned Korans in Denmark this year.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told in July Denmark is looking for legal means to prevent the burning of Korans.
Denmark has traditionally wanted to emphasize its broad freedom of expression and therefore also allowed the burning of the Koran.
In the summer, the Danish government had a discussion about banning the burning of holy books in front of embassies.
Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard commented on Thursday at a press conference after the parliamentary hearing that the new law does not conflict with freedom of speech.
However, Hummelgaard could not answer whether, for example, wrapping the Koran in bacon is considered a crime.
Koran burning was allowed in Denmark in 2017 when the blasphemy law was removed from Danish law.
Sources: AFP, Reuters