A man in Denmark has been arrested and charged with blasphemy after filming himself burning a copy of the Koran.
The unnamed suspect uploaded the footage of himself setting fire to the religious text onto Facebook, to a group called “YES TO FREEDOM – NO TO ISLAM”. The video was titled “Consider your neighbour: it stinks when it burns.”
The 42-year-old is understood to be the first person to be charged with blasphemy in Denmark for 46 years. The last time it happened, in 1971, two radio hosts were prosecuted, and acquitted, after being accused of insulting Christianity.
A conviction for blasphemy in Denmark, where it is defined as “publicly insulting or degrading religious doctrines or worship”, can lead to a prison sentence of four months.
In total, only four prosecutions are thought to have ever been brought in Denmark for blasphemy.
Speaking to the London Independent, Jen Reckendorff of the Viborg public prosecutions office claimed: “It is the prosecution’s view that circumstances involving the burning of holy books such as the Bible and the Koran can in some cases be a violation of the blasphemy clause, which covers public scorn or mockery of religion.”
Denmark has had an uneasy relationship in the past when it comes to mocking religion, especially Islam. In 2006 the newspaper Jyllends-Posten sparked outrage and violent protests in Islamic countries and communities after publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed.
The cartoonist responsible, Kurt Westergaard, was later the subject of several murder attempts.
