Denmark Prepares Bill To Stop Burning The Al-Qur'an

JAKARTA - The Danish government on Friday announced it was preparing a bill prohibiting the burning of copies of the Qur'an, as part of efforts to ease tensions with Muslim countries.

"The government will propose a law prohibiting inappropriate handling of objects that have an important religious meaning to the religious community," Justice Minister Peter Totalgaard told a news conference.

"The proposal will make the action punishable, for example, burning the Qur'an, Bible, or writing it in public," he explained.

The Danish government also rejected protests by several opposition parties that said banning the burning of the Qur'an would violate freedom of expression.

"I'm basically sure there's a more civilized way to express someone's views than to burn something", Sayagaard.

Denmark and Sweden have seen a series of public protests in recent weeks, which have been colored by burning or damaging copies of the Qur'an, sparking outrage in Muslim countries, demanding the government of Nordic countries stop the arson.

Earlier, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in July the government would seek to "find legal tools" that would allow authorities to prevent the burning of copies of the Qur'an in front of the embassy of another country in Denmark.

"Violation of the new law will be subject to a fine or imprisonment of up to two years," said kolegaard.

He did not say when the country's parliamentary forecast would vote on the bill.

Meanwhile, neighboring Sweden, also said it was considering ways to legally limit the Al-Qur'an blasphemy, to reduce tensions following recent threats that led the country's security officials to raise the level of terrorist threats.