COPENHAGEN: Denm­ark on Friday said it plans to ban desecration of religious scriptures, including the Holy Quran, after a string of incidents in which Islam’s holy book was disrespected sparked anger in Muslim countries.

The ban, due to be presented to parliament on Sept 1, comes six years after Denmark abolished its 334-year-old blasphemy law. The bill is expected to pass through parliament, where the left-right government holds a majority.

The country had stepped up security earlier this month following a backlash, as did neighbouring Sweden, which has also seen a spate of burnings in recent months. Denmark ended the measures on Aug 22, though they remain in place in Sweden.

The proposed legislation would also apply to desecrations of the Bible, the Torah or, for example, a crucifix. Those who break the law risk a fine or up to two years in prison.

The Danish government intends to “criminalise the improper treatment of objects of significant religious importance to a religious community,” Justice Min­ister Peter Humm­elgaard told reporters.

He said the proposed legislation was aimed especially at burnings and desecrations in public places. Hummelgaard said Holy Quran burnings were a “fundamentally contem­ptuous and unsym­pathetic act” that “harm Denmark and its interests”.

The new legislation would be included in chapter 12 of Denmark’s penal code, which covers national security.

Hummelgaard said that national security was the main “motivation” for the ban.

“We can’t continue to stand by with our arms crossed while several individuals do everything they can to provoke violent reactions,” Hummelgaard said.

Nearly a thousand protesters attempted to march to the Danish embassy in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone in late July, following a call by firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr.

The law will however not encompass “verbal or written expressions” offensive to religious communities, including caricatures, the justice minister said. He stressed Denmark remained firmly committed to its freedom of expression laws, amid criticism from several opposition parties who fear a ban would infringe on those.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Friday the Holy Quran burnings had sparked “enormous anger in the entire world”. “We have made great efforts to contain this anger. At the moment the situation is fairly calm, but it’s also uncertain and unpredictable,” he told reporters.

He said that in the “short term, we’ll probably see more Holy Quran burnings rather than less” before the new law goes into force.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023