The Danish government will prohibit public destruction of the Quran, according to the country’s justice minister on Friday.
According to the Ekstra Bladet newspaper, Peter Hummelgaard, the administration will submit legislation prohibiting the burning of religious scriptures in public areas.
During a press conference, Hummelgaard stated that public burnings of holy scriptures should be penalized by up to two years in prison.
The justice minister described Quran burnings as a fundamentally insulting and callous act, adding that the degradation of Islam’s sacred book also harms Denmark and Danish interests.
In recent months, Islam phobic people and groups in Northern Europe have frequently carried out Quran burnings and similar attempts to defile the Muslim holy book, provoking anger in Muslim nations and throughout the world.