Denmark charges two in first case under Quran desecration law

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Denmark charged two people on Friday under its law banning desecration of the Quran, a first for the legislation adopted after a series of holy book burnings that sparked outrage among Muslims, authorities said.

The pair, whose identities were not disclosed, are accused of “inappropriate treatment of a Quran” during a festival in June gathering people from the political, economic and social spheres.

Neither Copenhagen’s prosecution authority nor local media have described their alleged actions in detail.

The actions “took place publicly, were followed by a number of people and were also broadcast to a wider circle by being filmed and broadcast live on Facebook”, prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said in a statement.

The new legislation was adopted on December 7, 2023 and entered into force several days later, after a series of desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Denmark and neighbouring Sweden sparked outrage in Muslim countries.

In practical terms, it is now forbidden to burn, tear or otherwise defile holy texts publicly or in videos intended to be disseminated widely.

Those who break the law risk a fine or up to two years behind bars. According to Danish daily Politiken, police were investigating eight violations of the law as of January 22.