Denmark to ban Quran burnings, says justice minister

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – The Danish government will ban public desecration of the Quran, the country's justice minister said on Friday.

Peter Hummelgaard said the government will introduce a bill to ban the burning of religious scriptures in public places, Ekstra Bladet newspaper reported.

Public burnings of religious scriptures must be punishable by up to two years in prison, Hummelgaard said during a news conference.

Calling Quran burnings as fundamentally mocking and unsympathetic act, the justice minister said that desecration of Islam's holy book also damages Denmark and Danish interests.

Islamophobic figures and groups in Northern Europe have repeatedly carried out Quran burnings and similar attempts in recent months to desecrate the Muslim holy book, drawing outrage from Muslim countries and the rest of the world.