Denmark files first Quran desecration ban case

COPENHAGEN: Denmark charged two people on Friday under its law banning desecration of the Holy Quran, a first for 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 Holy 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.