RIYADH
\nThe Arab Parliament \u2014 the legislative body of the Arab League \u2014 on Saturday welcomed the Danish government\u2019s move to make it a crime to desecrate any holy book in Denmark.
\nDenmark\u2019s center-right government introduced the proposed law following a recent string of public desecrations of the Qur\u2019an by a handful of anti-Islam activists, sparking angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.
\nArab Parliament Speaker Adel bin Abdul Rahman Al-Asoumi, in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressed his hope that the decision will contribute positively towards reducing the heinous crimes that Denmark recently witnessed by burning copies of the Qur\u2019an.
\nAl-Asoumi called on Sweden and other European countries to \u201cfollow the example of Denmark\u201d in this regard. He also urged the European Parliament to adopt a similar law at the collective level to ensure that religious sanctities and symbols are not offended.
\nLike Denmark, Sweden has recently seen a surge in unprovoked acts of desecration of the Muslim holy book, notably on June 28, 2023, when an Iraqi refugee tore and set fire to pages of the Qur\u2019an outside the Stockholm Mosque in the Swedish capital.
\nSubsequent protests in Denmark saw extremists burning copies of the Qur\u2019an outside the embassies of a number of Muslim countries.
\nFollowing a backlash against Danish missions abroad, Denmark\u2019s Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard last week announced that the government seeks to extend Denmark\u2019s existing ban on burning foreign flags by also \u201cprohibiting improper treatment of objects of significant religious significance to a religious community.\u201d
\n\u201cThe bill will make it punishable, for example, to burn the Qur\u2019an or the Bible in public. It will only aim at actions in a public place or with the intention of spreading in a wider circle,\u201d Hummelgaard said. He said such acts would be punishable by fines or up to two years in prison.
\nHummelgaard told a news conference that the recent protests were \u201csenseless taunts that have no other purpose than to create discord and hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH The Arab Parliament \u2014 the legislative body of the Arab League \u2014 on Saturday welcomed the Danish government\u2019s move to make it a crime to desecrate any holy book in Denmark. Denmark\u2019s center-right government introduced the proposed law following a recent string of public desecrations of the Qur\u2019an by a handful of anti-Islam activists, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-352101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n