Denmark moves to ban Quran burning after Muslim outrage

Denmark’s government said on Friday it would take steps to criminalize public mishandling of religious objects, brushing aside free speech concerns with what one minister called “targeted intervention” after a series of public desecrations of the Quran will cause a furore in many Muslim-majority countries.

Those found guilty of mishandling an object of great religious significance could be fined or sentenced to up to two years in prison, according to a draft bill published by the Danish Ministry of Justice. Danish coalition officials said they could enact the policy as soon as the end of the year if it is approved by Parliament.

Both Denmark and neighboring Sweden have struggled to balance respect for free expression with the diplomatic consequences of desecrations. Governments in many Muslim-majority countries have issued withering condemnations and authorities in both countries have said the risk of terror attacks has increased in recent months, posing a threat to national security.

After a small group of Danish nationalists filmed themselves burning what they said was a Koran late last month, hundreds of Iraqi protesters tried to storm the Danish embassy in Baghdad before security forces dispersed them. On Sunday, Iranian authorities summoned Danish and Swedish diplomats to reprimand them for another series of desecrations in both countries.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters that more than 170 demonstrations, including Koran burnings, had taken place in front of the embassies of Muslim-majority countries and elsewhere in Denmark over the past month. The protests, which are usually small, often denounce Islam and Muslim immigration.

“This has put Denmark in a difficult foreign policy situation,” Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, the country’s deputy prime minister, said on Friday. “And the government can’t just sit back and listen to that.”

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard characterized the proposal as a “targeted fabrication” against Quran burnings that “harm the security of Danes both abroad and at home.” Introducing the measure on Friday, Hummelgaard promised that a “very broad framework” for freedom of expression would remain in Denmark.

He said the proposed law would not apply to clothing or satirical cartoons, for example, and would not limit criticism of religion. “I think there are more civilized ways to express your opinions than burning things,” he said.

Danish critics immediately blasted the bill as an attack on the country’s historically strong protections for free speech and capitulation to violence. The Liberal Alliance, which holds 14 of Parliament’s 179 seats, said it was “a sad day for Danes and a good day for extremists.”

Jacob Kaarsbo, an analyst at Think Tank Europe in Copenhagen, called the bill “an effort to reach out to the Muslim mainstream” and reduce tensions by showing Muslim-majority countries that Denmark was taking the issue seriously.

“Ultimately, very few people are behind this, but they are having a huge impact,” Kaarsbo said, referring to the desecrations of the Quran.

This is far from Denmark’s first brush with controversy surrounding the limits of free speech and Islam. In 2005, a Danish newspaper published several cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that were considered blasphemous by many Muslims, prompting protests and violent attacks.

Far-right Scandinavian troublemakers have occasionally burned the Koran for years to signal their opposition to Muslim immigration to countries like Denmark. But tensions this year began to rise after Rasmus Paludan, a right-wing nationalist and dual citizen of Sweden and Denmark, set fire to a copy of the Koran in January.

In late June, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant in Sweden, burned a Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm. A Muslim man was later granted permission to burn a Torah and a Bible in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, but he did not comply. He later told reporters that his intention had not been to burn the Scriptures but to underscore the abominable nature of such acts.

The governments of many Muslim countries have fiercely denounced Denmark and Sweden for allowing Quran burning. Both governments have repeatedly condemned the desecrations, but said they were limited by free speech laws.

Sweden, which hopes to join NATO, fears the controversy could delay its membership. Turkey’s foreign minister said last month that Stockholm’s inability to “avoid provocations” had raised questions about Sweden’s membership credentials.

In mid-July, hundreds of people stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set parts of it on fire over the Swedish government’s decision to allow the desecrations. Iraq also expelled the Swedish ambassador and ordered his Iraqi counterpart to withdraw from the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.

Last month, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden described the security situation there as the most dire since World War II. This month, Sweden’s internal security agency raised its terror threat level to “high,” the second most serious designation on a five-point scale.

Jasmina Nielsen contributed reporting from Copenhagen.