The Parliament of Denmark on Thursday, December 7th (16th of August) approved the law according to which the act of burning copies of the Quran in public places is considered illegal.

Out of 179 members of the Danish Parliament, 94 voted in favor of this law and 77 other legislators voted against it.

Peter Hamelgaard, Minister of Justice of Denmark, said in a statement: “We must protect the security of Denmark and the Danes. It is important now to take better action against the systematic abuses that we have been witnessing for a long time.”

This action was taken by the Danish Parliament after the burning of copies of the Koran in that country angered Islamic countries, and security surveillance was instituted in the area of ​​attacks by Islamists on Denmark.

It is stated in the text of this law that burning, tearing and other types of desecration of holy books in public places or in videos intended for wide dissemination is prohibited, and those who disobey this law face fines and up to two years in prison. .

Denmark and Sweden this year witnessed demonstrations due to the burning of copies of the Koran by anti-Islam activists, an action that would lead to tension in the country’s relations with Islamic countries.

This law was initially presented to the Danish parliament at the end of August this year, but following criticism that the first version limited freedom of expression and would be difficult to implement, it was approved with some amendments.

Critics in Denmark and Sweden argue that any restrictions on criticism of religion, including the ban on burning copies of the Koran, are a violation of freedom of expression.

Legislators opposed to this law in the Danish parliament had long debates with supporters of this plan and accused the Danish government of sacrificing freedom of expression.

Inger Støjberg, the leader of the right-wing Democrats in the Danish Parliament, criticized the approval of this law and said: “This is a betrayal. It is a failure of the great government… History will judge me severely for this reason, for good reasons… Conclusion This is whether the limitation of freedom of speech is determined by me or is imposed on me from outside.

The coalition government of Denmark has argued that the new law has a very marginal effect on freedom of speech and criticism of religion by other means remains legal.

The government of Sweden, in neighboring Denmark, faced a wave of angry criticism from Islamic countries for burning copies of the Koran. does

Denmark is not the only European country that has declared the Koran illegal. Burning copies of the Quran is also prohibited in Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania. Similarly, in Greece, burning holy books is prohibited if it takes place in or near a religious place.

In the preparation of this article, reports from Reuters and France Press have been used.