Prosecutors in North Jutland, Denmark [official website], pressed blasphemy charges [press release, in Danish] against a man on Wednesday for posting a video in which he burned a Koran. On Thursday the Danish Prosecution Service issued a formal indictment [press release, in Danish] against the man. The prosecutor noted that, “It is the prosecution’s view that the circumstances of the burning of holy books like the Bible and the Qur’an implies that in some cases it may be a violation of blasphemy provision, which deals with public mockery or scorn against a religion.” The charges have been issued under Penal Code § 140, which forbids the public insulting of lawfully existing religions.

Bills limiting freedom of expression and punishing religious dissension have been widespread across the world and have led to international concern [JURIST report]. In August Maldives President Yameen Abdul Gayoom signed [JURIST report] into law a controversial bill criminalizing defamation with fines and jail terms despite widespread criticism. Earlier this year a sharia high court in Nigeria sentenced cleric Abdulaziz Dauda and nine others to death [JURIST report] by hanging for committing blasphemy against the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. In January UN human rights experts called for a review of the UK’s draft “Investigatory Powers” bill fearing that the present draft of the bill could threaten freedom of expression and association [JURIST report]. In February a Pakistani man was executed for his part in murdering a politician [JURIST report] who had condemned the conviction of a Christian for blasphemy. Later that month Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Indonesian Parliament to reject proposed amendments to its law on the “eradication of terrorism.” HRW asserts that the proposed amendments are too vague [JURIST report] and would limit the exercise of free expression and directly conflict with Indonesia’s obligations to international human rights, leading to fundamental rights violations. And in 2010 HRW urged the repeal of all such laws [JURIST report].