Denmark repeals 334-year-old blasphemy law

Danish lawmakers in the first week of June 2017 repealed a 334-year-old blasphemy law that forbids public insults of a religion, such as the burning of holy books.

Denmark was the only Scandinavian country with a blasphemy law, which called for up to four months in prison upon conviction, although most people were fined instead.

Only a handful of blasphemy trials have taken place in the past 80 years in the country, and several high-profile cases have been dropped, including one involving a caricature of the prophet Muhammad published in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005.

Key highlights

• The Danish Parliament stated that politicians, who wanted to repeal the law introduced in 1683 “do not believe that there should be special rules protecting religions against expressions.”

• However, remarks and acts that threaten or demean certain groups of people because of their religious beliefs will still be punishable.

• In 1946, two people were fined for conducting a baptism during a masked ball, and in 1971, two public radio officials were convicted for broadcasting a song about a woman’s sexuality and her refusal of any divine moral figure.

• A Danish man, who filmed himself burning the Quran before posting a video of his act on Facebook in 2015 would have faced a blasphemy trial soon in June 2017. However, the case is now dropped after revoking of the law.