If a new bill is signed into law, public mockery or criticism of Islam could soon be banned by the government of Denmark. The proposed bill, which would prevent further burnings of the Quran, which have sparked outrage across the Islamic world, could have wider implications for free speech in the country and lead to the banning of religious satire, a leading conservative news site in neighboring Sweden has warned.
REMIX News Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s administration, spearheaded by her center-left Socialist Democratic Party (SDP), announced its intention to explore options to defuse tensions with the number of nations aggrieved by recent burnings of the Islamic holy book, considered a blasphemous and insulting act by Muslims.
“We wish to put an end to these recurring insults, which Paludan and a few people around him engaged in,” said Christian Rabjerg Madsen, the SDP’s political chairman, referring to Rasmus Paludan, the fringe anti-Islam politician who burned a copy of the Quran in Stockholm earlier this year. “That is our political goal,” Madsen added.
Some, however, fear that such a move would set a dangerous precedent and could be a slippery slope toward the erosion of free speech and freedom of expression, a concern highlighted recently in an article published by Swedish conservative news site Samyntt.
The site reported that this concern was put to the Danish prime minister during a press conference held last week when she was asked whether the government’s plans to ban Quran burnings could lead to other forms of satire or criticism of Islam being prohibited. It noted that Frederiksen was unforthcoming in her response.
“It is more sensible and wiser to discuss this when the government is finished with the bill,” she told reporters. Frederiksen is not the only one to avoid providing an adequate response to those concerned about an erosion of free speech. Madsen has also been asked repeatedly about the issue and has opted not to respond.
Joachim B. Olsen, a journalist and political commentator for Danish tabloid newspaper B.T., called the government’s refusal to alleviate such concerns “remarkable” and insisted that Frederiksen should be able to tell the public what the planned law will “concretely” mean.
Both Denmark and Sweden are seeking to introduce new measures to suppress a spike in anti-Islam demonstrations in the Scandinavian countries, the latter for which the adverse publicity has caused considerable diplomatic issues in relation to Turkey, which refused to ratify Stockholm’s NATO membership application.
However, Sweden’s proposed legislation, at least currently, appears to be more specific, relating to reforms to the country’s public order laws, which will allow the police to deny a protest permit to those who intend to burn the Islamic religious text.
“Others want to use Sweden as a stage to spread hateful messages. It can be both Swedish citizens and people who come to Sweden and use Swedish freedom of expression for their own purposes. They drag Sweden into international conflicts in different ways,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said earlier this month.
Denmark, however, is yet to truly define what its proposed legislative reforms will mean for a country that has a history of butting heads with the Islamic world over religious satire.
In 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons targeting Islam in which the Prophet Muhammad was depicted in an unfavorable light. One contributor, the late Kurt Westergaard (below), drew a cartoon of Muhammad wearing a bomb in his turban which resulted in numerous death threats and assassination attempts. He was ultimately placed under the protection of the Danish secret service, who shot and wounded a Somali Muslim armed with an axe and knife who broke into Westergaard’s house back in 2010.
Kurt Westergaard’s Mohammed cartoons
resulted in riots like this around the world, including many killings.
But the publisher (below) of the Mohammed cartoons in Denmark defended his decision to publish and republish the cartoons again later, based on the principles of free speech.
Daniel Erbstoesser says
The whole of europe has to crawl up their asses because europe was so stupid that it imported millions and is importing millions more. Should any european state do anything that goes against them then you will see what i mean by my statement here.
uytt says
good for Denmark now they get to keep their life style up and running, it seems live free or die fighting isn’t for them , that is why never give anything to those that don’t deserve it, they either work hard for it earn and deserve it or GTFO, no one needs traitors and cowards the world is already overflowing with them
hopefully the Islamic Republic of Sweden follows up , spits
The Tasmanian Devil says
The best way to fight this kind of censorship is to double down and then TRIPLE down, relentlessly, burn their book of hate, mock them, draw cartoons, and generally DO NOT COMPLY.
OH, WAIT!
Europeans gave up their guns. That’s why they are slaves to their dictatorial masters.
Me 'locked and loaded' says
First the populace replacement then the government officials, until finally the mass extermination of anything that goes against their dead cult leaders rantings.
Phases 1 and 2 are already well under way. It won’t be long before Phase 3 begins to be rolled out not just across Europe, but the world.
When the world finally wakes up, it will already be too late.