The legal expert, Counselor Salem Hawass, described the statement of the Swedish Minister of Justice, Gunnar Stromer, that his government is considering criminalizing the burning of the Qur’an or other holy Books, in light of the recent incidents of burning the Qur’an that harm Sweden’s security, as a “shirk of responsibility.”

Hawass said in a statement: “The minister’s statement is a clear message that Swedish laws did not criminalize these acts at all, as evidenced by giving permission and approval to burn and protecting the perpetrators of these heinous crimes under the cover of democracy and double standards by legislating homosexuality, and pornography laws.”

He added: “Most of the texts of penal laws in the world do not apply to the crimes that committed in the past , such as the law stipulating that a precautionary measure is not imposed except in the circumstances and conditions stipulated in the law. And these precautionary measures apply to the provisions related to penalties in terms of their non-retroactivity and the validity of the law that is best for the accused, as the Iraqi legislator went to in the Penal Code.

Hawass stressed that: “In the event that a law is enacted criminalizing the burning of the Qur’an and the holy heavenly Books, it will not apply retroactively to previous crimes, and therefore it does not include those who burned it, but rather criminalizes subsequent acts and crimes from the date of its issuance or publication in the Official Gazette, based on the principle of non-retroactivity of laws.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency