Indictment for burning of the Quran
The Danish Prosecution Service has indicted a Danish national for violation of the blasphemy section in the Danish Criminal Code. The case concerns a video uploaded to Facebook, where the accused burns the Quran.
The Danish Prosecution Service has indicted a 42-year old Danish national, who in December 2015 published a video on Facebook, showing him burning the Quran.
State Prosecutor Jan Reckendorff from the Prosecution Service, who, after the approval of the Director of Public Prosecutions, made the decision to prosecute according to section 140 of the Danish Criminal Code concerning blasphemy, states:
»The Prosecution Service finds that the circumstances surrounding the burning of holy books such as the Bible or the Quran implies that such an act may be a violation of the blasphemy section of the Criminal Code, which concerns public mockery or scorn with reference to a religion.«
The indictment states that the 42-year old burned an edition of the Quran in his garden. On 27 December 2015, he publicised a video of the burning on Facebook. The video was uploaded to a public Facebook group named “JA TIL FRIHED – NEJ TIL ISLAM” (“yes to freedom, no to Islam”). According to the indictment, the 42-year old wrote the following text to accompany the video: “Tænk på jeres nabo, det stinker når den brænder.” (“Think of your neighbour, it stinks when it burns”).
»In our opinion, the circumstances of this case are of such a nature that the matter should be prosecuted, in order to enable the courts to assess the case,« says State Prosecutor Jan Reckendorff.
The penalty for blasphemy is a maximum prison sentence of four months. However, State Prosecutor Jan Reckendorff states that the Prosecution Service will ask for a fine.
The criminal trial will take place in the District Court of Aalborg. The date has not yet been decided.
For further information:
Contact Simon Gosvig, Communications Consultant for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, at sgo@ankl.dk or +45 72 68 90 54.
