Public Quran Desecration Could ‘Easily Be Criminalized’

“Burning of holy books in public places could be criminalized. Why should we have burnings? … I think we could easily do that without having any profound limitations on freedom of speech,” Sten Schaumburg-Muller, a law professor at the University of Southern Denmark, told Anadolu Agency.

The remarks come as several Nordic states, especially Sweden and Denmark, have hosted multiple events in which extremist elements desecrated the Holy Quran during the past few weeks.

The acts have been widely condemned by Muslims across the world as Islamic countries and organizations have urged the Nordic states to prevent such events. The Scandinavian countries have also slammed the anti-Muslim acts, however, claim they do not have any blasphemy law to confront them. The states have also tried to indirectly defend the acts under the guise of freedom of speech.

For Schaumburg-Muller, however, imposing restrictions on such events is an “acceptable infringement” on freedom of speech.

“The public burnings could, I think, easily be criminalized. Yes, in principle, it’s an infringement on freedom of speech, but it’s definitely an acceptable infringement,” he said.

He noted that it is “fine” for people to disagree and discuss their opposition, though. “I think that we should be able to discuss. Maybe we disagree on issues … which is fine. That’s core freedom of speech.”

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to Schaumburg-Muller, says imposing limitations on freedom of speech is permitted if “it’s done by (the) law … democratically.”

“No country in the world has absolute freedom of speech. There are always limitations,” he stressed.

“I could just mention a few examples (for Denmark). You’re not allowed to pass on very private information or pictures, you’re not, according to Danish law, allowed to make gross defamation of groups belonging to a special race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and those kinds of things.”