Freedom of expression and media freedom are firmly anchored in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It is considered important for democratic societies to be able to tolerate a variety of opinions, even if these may offend religious sensibilities.
However, this repeatedly raises the question of the extent to which critical or mocking statements about people's religious beliefs are acceptable, and how a society should deal with them. Below is a summary of some of the provocations that have been made against religious communities, and how blasphemy is dealt with in Europe.
Quran-burning in Sweden
This year alone, Sweden has already had several cases of people burning Qurans. One man declared that he intended to do so on Thursday this week. His announcement sparked protests in many Islamic countries before the act even took place. In the event, he desecrated the book but did not burn it.
The Swedish police actually prohibited actions of this kind in February of this year. However, shortly afterwards a court overturned the ban on Quran-burning: The judge said the ban was unconstitutional. Freedom of assembly and the freedom to demonstrate are protected rights in Sweden.
The police then used the same argument when they subsequently approved a counter-protest, at which a Torah scroll and a Bible were to be burned. A police spokesperson explained that the permit was not a response to a request to be allowed to publicly burn the Bible and Torah. Rather, the police had approved an assembly at which an "opinion" would be expressed. This, she said, was an "important distinction."
The police also recently approved a demonstration by an Iraqi man who had fled to Sweden. He had announced that he intended to burn the Quran in Stockholm. However, they again emphasized that they were issuing a permit for a public assembly, not for the content of that assembly. In fact, following one of his previous actions, the police had initiated proceedings against him for "incitement against an ethnic group" because the protest took place close to a mosque.
The UN has condemned the Quran-burnings in Sweden, warning that there has been an "alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred." However, in the same statement, the UN's human rights commissioner, Volker Türk, cautioned that the limitation of freedom of expression "must, as a fundamental principle, remain an exception."
Semi-naked on the altar of Cologne Cathedral
In Germany, too, freedom of expression is enshrined in the country's Basic Law. Article 5 states that everyone has the right "freely to express and disseminate his opinions in speech, writing and pictures." There are, however, limits.
Germany is one of the few European countries that protects religious communities with a so-called blasphemy paragraph. Anyone who publicly "reviles the religion or ideology of others in a manner suited to causing a disturbance of the public peace" can be sentenced to up to three years in prison. This is not, however, intended to criminalize mockery of God in general, only insults that are detrimental to public peace.
Section 166 of the German Penal Code is very rarely invoked. In 2006, a pensioner was given a suspended prison sentence after distributing rolls of toilet paper with the word " Quran" printed on them. And in 2013, an activist was fined for painting her naked torso with the words "I am God" and jumping onto the altar of Cologne Cathedral during the Christmas Mass. However, she was only prosecuted for disturbing the practice of religion and was not convicted of blasphemy.
Insulting the Prophet is not usually a case for the courts, and blasphemy is only subject to legal punishment in Germany if it has serious consequences.
French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
In 2015, two Islamists carried out an attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people. Prior to this, the magazine had published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which had sparked anger and outrage among Muslims around the world.
A few days after the attack on the magazine's office, France's prime minister, Manuel Valls, appeared before the National Assembly and declared that blasphemy would never be part of French law.
France's president, Emmanuel Macron, has also defended the "right to blasphemy" in his country. This means that, in France, freedom of expression includes being allowed to write or say what others consider blasphemy.
Blasphemy has not been an offense in France since 1881. The country has observed the strict separation of church and state for almost 120 years. Historically, this secularism was an attempt to curb the influence of the church in the country. The principle still enjoys a high level of acceptance today among the French population.
Muhammad cartoons in Denmark
"What is satire allowed to do?" This was the question the Danes were forced to ask themselves in 2005, when the cartoon series on Islam published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten sparked protests in the Arab world, some of which were violent. The case prompted discussions about artistic freedom and freedom of expression in other countries, too. At the time, the Danish prime minister distanced himself from the publication of the cartoons, but he also referred to the rights of freedom of the press and freedom of expression, both of which are considered very important by Danes.
Until 2017, Denmark still had a de facto law against blasphemy. As in Germany, Danish authorities have prosecuted only a few such cases. These include two radio producers charged in the 1970s for broadcasting a song that made fun of Christianity. In 2014, the Danish-Iranian artist Firoozeh Bazrafkan was charged for exhibiting the shredded remains of a Quran, which she entitled "Blasphemy." Bazrafkan commented at the time: "I want to continue to remind people that it's okay to disagree." In both cases, the defendants were acquitted, and in 2017 the law against blasphemy was finally repealed.
