In Denmark, the government’s proposal to criminalize Koran burning in the future was heavily criticized by opposition parties. Now, “unfree, medieval forces in the Middle East” can dictate “how we should live here at home”, said former integration minister and current leader of the right-wing Danish populist Democrats, Inger Støjberg. During the crisis surrounding the Mohammed cartoons, the Danish government at the time stood firm and defied the “mullahs”’ attempts to restrict freedom of the press. “If only the government had the courage,” said Støjberg.
Julian Staib
Political correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.
A representative of the nationally conservative Danish People’s Party called the government officials who introduced the proposed legislation “free speech entrepreneurs”. A representative of the Liberal Alliance spoke of a “reintroduction of the blasphemy clause”, even though the government claims otherwise. “Congratulations, Al-Qaeda and company. The Danish government has heard your threats,” wrote the Liberal Alliance on social media.
The government introduced a bill to amend the penal code on Friday. Thus, the “improper treatment of objects with significant religious significance for a religious community” in public is punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.
Leaflet about the bill
The Department of Justice published a memo about the project. Accordingly, inappropriate treatment should include burning, pulverizing or kicking the religious object, as well as destroying it, for example by hitting or tearing it. According to the leaflet, disposing of a Bible in the trash can should not be an improper act unless the manner of disposing of it is “pejorative or mocking.”
Social Democrat Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, when asked whether wrapping a Koran in a rainbow flag in protest against the treatment of gays by Muslim governments was also improper treatment, said he would not present a long list of what is appropriate and what is not what is not. The final definition rests with the courts. Hummelgaard called the project a “limited and precise legal intervention”.
The Koran fires are harming Denmark and endangering security, so the bill is needed. Government officials stressed that one cannot sit idly by while some individuals do all they can to provoke violent reactions. The amendment to the law is not intended to reintroduce the blasphemy clauses, after all there are no plans to criminalize statements or satire.
Actual application of the paragraph on blasphemy?
However, legal scholars have argued to the newspaper Politiken that the proposed law actually represents a reintroduction of at least the parts of the paragraph on blasphemy that were applicable at the time. The provision now envisaged essentially covers the purpose for which the standard could have been used at the time. In Denmark, blasphemy legislation was abolished in 2017 as a result of the crisis surrounding Muhammad cartoons.
Freedom of expression is an “absolutely fundamental value”, but there is no freedom in democracies without accountability, said Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (Venstre). The burning of the Holy Scriptures is “a provocation for the provocation’s sake”. This has put Denmark in a difficult position and the government cannot just watch. “Books must not be burned, they must be read.”
The bill is expected to be presented to Parliament within a few weeks. The coalition of social democrats, liberal-conservative Venstre and liberal moderates is not dependent on opposition votes for reform, but there are signs that other parties will agree. Representatives of the Die Alternative party expressed their support, as did the Radikale Venstre party.
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Sweden’s government has also announced a reform aimed at burning the Koran. It remains to be seen whether, through a change in regulatory law, Sweden’s security could in future be a criterion for allowing assemblies – which serve, for example, to burn the Koran. But there is widespread resistance to the project in Sweden. The minority government is expected to have no majority in parliament.