Danish govt to fresh draft legislation making it illegal to burn the Quran or other non secular texts

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish govt on Friday acknowledged it is going to indicate a legislation that might perchance well presumably create it illegal to desecrate any holy e book in Denmark, where a in fashion string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists has sparked offended demonstrations in Muslim international locations.

Denmark has been viewed as a nation that facilitates insults and denigration of the cultures, religions and traditions of different international locations, the government acknowledged.

The center-blooming govt seeks to lengthen Denmark’s gift ban on burning foreign flags by furthermore “prohibiting substandard treatment of objects of serious non secular significance to a non secular neighborhood,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard acknowledged.

“The invoice will create it punishable, as an instance, to burn the Quran or the Bible in public. This can handiest unbiased at actions in a public set up or with the arrangement of spreading in a powerful wider circle,” Hummelgaard acknowledged. He acknowledged such acts will be punishable by fines or as a lot as 2 years in detention heart.

Turkey’s International Ministry has summoned the fee d’affaires of the Danish Embassy five times in the previous week to relate the desecration of the Quran in Denmark, based on Turkey’s assure-trail Anadolu Agency.

Hummelgaard told a news conference that the most up-to-date protests had been “mindless scoffs which don’t have any other cause than to accomplish discord and hatred.”

Denmark’s govt has yet again and yet again distanced itself from the desecrations, nevertheless has insisted that freedom of expression is one among a truly noteworthy values in Danish society. It acknowledged that is now not be plagued by the proposed legislation.

Freedom of expression is “a cornerstone of Danish democracy, and the freedom to particular oneself is a central price in Danish society,” Hummelgaard acknowledged. The proposal is “a focused intervention which does no longer alternate the true fact that freedom of expression must have a of route huge framework in Denmark,” he acknowledged.

International Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen acknowledged there were bigger than 170 protests, in conjunction with many with Quran burnings, in front of the embassies of Muslim international locations, and that the proposed alternate is “a well-known political signal that Denmark wants to ship out to the enviornment.”

Closing month, he acknowledged the government would look to legally discontinue burnings of the Quran or other non secular scriptures, nevertheless added that there must “be room for non secular criticism” and that there were no plans to reintroduce a blasphemy clause that used to be repealed in 2017.

The invoice might perchance perchance be presented to lawmakers on Sept. 1 and might perchance well presumably simply be “handled if considerable sooner than the pause of the parliamentary three hundred and sixty five days,” which is sooner than Christmas, the Justice Ministry acknowledged.

The invoice will no longer duvet verbal or written statements, in conjunction with drawings, the government acknowledged.

The many Quran burnings have changed the minds of as a minimum one celebration outside the government. The center-left Social Liberal celebration that has seven seats in the 179-seat parliament had been towards a tightening of the legislation.

“But there were over 100 Quran burnings over the previous few months with the only real cause of environment up discord and uncertainty,” celebration spokesman Christian Friis Bach acknowledged. “We help the proposal.”

In 2006, Denmark used to be at the center of in fashion exasperate in the Muslim world after a newspaper posted 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, in conjunction with one wearing a bomb as a turban.

Muslims take into yarn photos of the prophet to be sacrilegious and difficult idolatry. The photos escalated into violent anti-Denmark protests by Muslims worldwide.

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Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this file.