COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CN) — The Danish government is searching for a legal tool to end publicly sanctioned Quran burnings after violent demonstrations and diplomatically tense weeks.
The Danish minister of foreign affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, emphasized the need to find a legal means to prevent civilian protesters from sparking outrage by destroying or damaging Islam's holy book in public, including in front of embassies in both Denmark and Sweden.
“Recently, we have seen incidents carried out by a very few people, serving to create division in a world that needs unity,” Rasmussen said to national broadcaster DR on Sunday.
The episodes have caused an outcry in Muslim nations. In July, Iraq expelled its Swedish ambassador and hundreds of protestors broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in response to the Nordic country’s continued allowance of local demonstrations, where both the Quran and Iraq’s flag were set on fire.
On Monday, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a virtual meeting for its 57 member countries to discuss the situation. Members expressed “grave concern over the increasing incidences of intolerance” and far-right movements in many parts of the world and pointed to a “failure to take the necessary measures to prevent such acts in Sweden and Denmark.”
Danish and Swedish officials have publicly acknowledged the threat continued demonstrations create for diplomacy. Both countries have heightened their security threat levels in the wake of the recent Quran burnings.
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal statement warning that allowing provocative demonstrations portrays Denmark as a country facilitating mockery and disparagement of culture, religion and tradition in other nations.
Now, as a response, the Danish government wants to implement a new legal tool to prevent Quran burnings.
Frederik Waage, a law professor and expert on public legal system affairs, described to Courthouse News what a new law might look like.
“The politicians basically want to introduce a book burning ban," Waage said. "That way, they can prevent protesters from destroying holy books in front of public institutions such as a mosque or embassy and avoid international diplomatic crises.”
The government could reinstate a law with a paragraph on blasphemy that was repealed in 2017. The language originally dates to the 19th century and most of it is obsolete in today’s society, the professor said. But the law did criminalize the act of burning books; since its repeal six years ago, Denmark has seen several Quran burnings.
Now, Waage said that Rasmussen is using the term “legal tool” to camouflage the fact that the government will most likely re-introduce a paragraph with essentially the same scope in Denmark’s law code.
Penalty-wise, he said that the new book-burning ban will look like paragraph 110e under the criminal code, which punishes public ridiculing of either a foreign state, its flag or another well-known national trademark. Any offense can trigger a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.
In Danish public debate, both law professors and the political opposition warn that a new ban could restrict the fundamental right to freedom of expression and set a dangerous precedent.
However, Waage emphasized that the judicial system has multiple laws that constrain individual action.
“We already limit privacy by law," he said. "A classic example from the U.S. is that you are not allowed to stand up and yell ‘fire’ in a theater. In Denmark, you mustn’t be naked in public, and if you’re a public employee — which a large part of the population is— you live under strict codes of confidentiality regarding what you can share about your job.”
Neighboring Sweden is also considering implementing a new law to prevent public Quran burnings. The country’s NATO application process has been challenged by national anti-Islamic protests that sparked strong reactions from Turkey.
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