COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – The Danish government said on Friday it was proposing legislation that would make it illegal to burn copies of the Koran in public places, part of the Nordic country’s effort to de-escalate growing tensions with several Muslim countries.
“The government will propose legislation that prohibits the inappropriate handling of objects with essential religious significance for a religious community,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told a press conference.
“The proposal will thus make it punishable to, for example, in public burn a Koran, Bible or Torah,” he said.
Denmark and Sweden have seen a string of protests in recent weeks where copies of the Koran have been burned, or otherwise damaged, prompting outrage in Muslim countries which have demanded the Nordic governments put a stop to the burnings.
(Reporting by Johannes Birkebaek, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Terje Solsvik)
