Denmark’s government will ban the burning of Islam’s holy book, the Quran, unveiling a new legislation on Friday.
This law seeks to penalize individuals who publicly burn the Quran with imprisonment for up to two years.
Peter Humlegaard, the Danish Minister of Justice, revealed that the government plans to institute a ban on the burning of the Quran, a measure driven by the wave of incidents tarnishing the sacred text in the Scandinavian state.
During a press conference, he outlined that the proposed legal framework would “prohibit the inappropriate treatment of objects of significant religious importance to a religious community,” according to the Danish publication “The Local.”
Humlegaard emphasized that the act of burning the Quran constitutes “an act of contempt and lack of empathy at its core,” with detrimental implications for Denmark and its interests.
The minister further stressed that national security serves as the primary impetus for the prohibition of Quran burning.
He noted that Quran burning harms Denmark and Danish interests, and risks endangering the security of Danes abroad and in Denmark.
The Danish Minister of Justice underscored that the new law will be formulated to encompass “inappropriate” treatment of such actions, and thus will not solely revolve around Quran burning.
He elaborated that the legislation will not provide an exhaustive list of the behaviors it may cover.
The Danish government’s proposal to enact a law banning the burning of the noble Quran follows vehement diplomatic and popular reactions from various Islamic nations.
This response has come in the wake of recurrent instances of Quran desecration by individuals in Denmark and Sweden.
