The Danish governing parties – the Social Democrats (S&D), the Liberals (Renew Europe), and the Moderates (Renew Europe) – voted in favour of a controversial bill making it a criminal offence to mistreat important religious texts such as the Koran or the Bible on Thursday.
After a series of Koran burnings in Sweden and Denmark provoked fierce and sometimes violent reactions from Muslim communities at home and abroad, the Danish government decided to study the proposal for such a ban.
“I understand that for many people this is a matter of principle. It was a difficult balancing act,” said Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, according to Danish Radio.
It is believed that the repeated Koran burnings in Sweden contributed to the ongoing Turkish delays in ratifying Sweden’s NATO application and it contributed to repeated attacks on Swedish embassies, namely in Iraq where the Swedish embassy was violently stormed by an angry crowd.
“When we weigh Denmark’s security against the right of a few individuals to repeatedly and deliberately set fire to things that mean a lot to many others to provoke violent reactions, we choose Denmark’s security,” Hummelgaard said in his speech to the Folketing, the Danish parliament.
Opposition politician Inger Støjberg, leader of the conservative Danish Democrats, was not in favour of the new law.
“Imagine that the Swedes stand firmly for the rights of freedom, while the Danish government largely gives in to the veto of the men of violence,” she said, recalling that despite the turmoil Sweden went through after the Koran burnings, such acts are still protected by the concept of freedom of speech.
When the Danish government presented the bill in August, it was heavily criticised for its broad interpretation of what is considered sacred, such as holy symbols. It was also criticised by the art world and the media for restricting Danish freedom of expression.
Since then, the government has revised the proposal to specify that it applies to the sacred writings of religions recognised in Denmark and the proposed penalty is a fine or up to two years’ imprisonment.
There were many indications that the bill would pass before the vote, but according to the Danish press, a significant number of Danish MPs, including from the ruling coalition parties, would not have voted for it had it not been for party lines.
The Danish government argued that the bill is being introduced to protect the country’s security, but some critics argue that the proposal is being put forward because the Danish government wants a seat on the UN Security Council in 2025-2026, which would require votes from a certain number of Muslim countries.
(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)
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