After outrage in Muslim world, Denmark to enact law to stop Quran burnings

The Danish government has said it is proposing legislation that would make it illegal to burn copies of the Quran in public places, part of the Nordic country's effort to de-escalate growing tensions with several Muslim countries, including Türkiye.

"The government will propose legislation that prohibits the inappropriate handling of objects with essential religious significance for a religious community," Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told a press conference on Friday.

"The proposal will thus make it punishable to, for example, in public burn a Quran, Bible or Torah," he said.

Those who break the law risk a fine and two years in prison.

The announcement came a day after the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the charge d'affaires of Denmark in Ankara over another act of desecration of Islam's holy book.

The move came after the burning of the Quran in Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, for the fourth day in a row this week. Türkiye has so far summoned the Danish envoy five times this month over the same issue.

The proposal by the centre-right government is to extend Denmark's existing ban on burning foreign flags by also "prohibiting improper treatment of objects of significant religious significance to a religious community,” Hummelgaard said.

“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 said.

The recent protests were “senseless taunts that have no other purpose than to create discord and hatred,” he said.

Denmark and Sweden have seen a string of incidents in recent weeks where copies of the Quran have been burned or otherwise damaged, prompting outrage in Muslim countries, which have demanded the Nordic governments put a stop to the burnings.

Hummelgaard said the 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," he said.

Denmark’s government has distanced itself from the desecrations but has insisted that freedom of expression is one of the most important values in Danish society.

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, “it was an important political signal that Denmark wants to send out to the world”.

It was not clear when the proposal would be presented to the 179-seat Folketing.

The three parties in the governing coalition control 88 seats and are also supported by the four lawmakers representing the semi-independent Danish territories of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.