Denmark passes a bill to stop Koran burnings. After riots in Muslim nations over the destruction of Islam’s holy book prompted Danish security worries, the Danish parliament enacted a law on Thursday that makes it illegal to burn copies of the Koran in public places. The bill was introduced in response to the protests in Muslim nations.
During this year, Denmark and Sweden were the sites of several public demonstrations in which anti-Islam activists destroyed or otherwise damaged copies of the Koran. These demonstrations sparked tensions with Muslims and prompted calls for the governments of the Nordic countries to prohibit the practice.
Even though there were concerns that the burning of the Koran might lead to assaults by Islamists, Denmark attempted to find a middle ground between the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression, which includes the ability to criticize religion and the need to maintain national security.
At home, opponents in Sweden and Denmark have claimed that any restrictions placed on criticizing religion, including the burning of Korans, harm the liberal liberties that have been fought so hard to achieve in the respective regions.
For this, history will cast a severe judgment on us, and there is a strong reason for that. “What it all comes down to is whether a restriction on freedom of speech is determined by us or whether it is dictated from the outside,” said Inger Stojberg, the head of the anti-immigration Denmark Democrats party, which opposed the ban. Stojberg disagreed with the prohibition.
Denmark’s government, a coalition of moderate parties, has stated that the new restrictions would have only a tiny influence on the right to free speech and that it is still constitutional to criticize religion in other ways.
It has been stated by the government that anyone who violates the new rule will be subject to penalties or perhaps imprisonment for a period of up to two years.
Similar to Denmark, Sweden is mulling over measures to restrict the destruction of the Koran legally, but the country is adopting a different approach than Denmark. It is investigating whether or not the police should consider the state of national security when making decisions about applications for public demonstrations.
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