Bill also criminalizes public burning of Bible and Torah

DNA

COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s parliament on Thursday adopted a law that will ban the burning of the Quran, local media reported.

The Danish parliament passed a bill criminalizing “the improper treatment of writings with significant religious importance for a recognized religious community” by a vote of 94 to 77.

This bill also criminalizes the public burning of the Bible, and the Torah.

In August, the Danish government introduced a bill that could outlaw the public burning of the Quran. This move, according to Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, sent a message of global importance.

Under the law, burning a Quran in public would be punishable by fines or even imprisonment for up to two years.

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard clarified that the intended placement of this law was within the existing regulations that already prohibit the desecration of foreign flags.

Explained by Hummelgaard, the law would encompass the “improper handling of objects considered religiously significant to any religious community.”

The minister stated during a press conference that recent Quran burnings were “deliberate provocations” meant to incite “division and animosity,” and that national security was the primary driving force behind the proposed ban.