COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish authorities on Friday stated it’s going to suggest a regulation 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 indignant demonstrations in Muslim nations.
Denmark has been seen as a rustic that facilitates insults and denigration of the cultures, religions and traditions of different nations, the government stated.
The center-right authorities seeks to increase Denmark‘s current ban on burning overseas flags by additionally “prohibiting improper treatment of objects of significant religious significance to a religious community,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard stated.
“The bill will make it punishable, for example, to burn the Quran or the Bible in public. It will only aim at actions in a public place or with the intention of spreading in a wider circle,” Hummelgaard stated. He stated such acts could be punishable by fines or as much as two years in jail.
Hummelgaard instructed a information convention that the latest protests had been “senseless taunts that have no other purpose than to create discord and hatred.”
Denmark’s authorities has repeatedly distanced itself from the desecrations, however has insisted that freedom of expression is among the most necessary values in Danish society. It stated that may not be affected by the proposed regulation.
Freedom of expression is “a cornerstone of Danish democracy, and the freedom to express oneself is a central value in Danish society,” Hummelgaard stated. The proposal is “a targeted intervention which does not change the fact that freedom of expression must have a very broad framework in Denmark,” he stated.
Foreign 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 important political signal that Denmark wants to send out to the world.”
Last month, he stated the government would search to legally stop burnings of the Quran or different spiritual scriptures, however added that there should “be room for religious criticism” and that there have been no plans to reintroduce a blasphemy clause that was repealed in 2017.
The invoice will probably be offered to lawmakers on Sept. 1 and will probably be “dealt with if necessary before the end of the parliamentary year,” which is earlier than Christmas, the Justice Ministry stated.
The invoice is not going to cowl verbal or written statements, together with drawings, the 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 carrying a bomb as a turban.
Muslims take into account photographs of the prophet to be sacrilegious and inspiring idolatry. The photographs escalated into violent anti-Denmark protests by Muslims worldwide.
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