Which EU country has the harshest punishment for disrespecting the flag and anthem?
What are those punishments?
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5You could try reading through this list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_desecration– DJClayworthCommented Nov 4, 2022 at 0:21
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2 Answers
In 1998, Iceland passed a law which increased the maximum penalty for insulting the flag or anthem of a foreign country to six years in serious cases. Article 95 of its penal code now states:
Art. 95 Any person who publicly insults a foreign nation or foreign state, its supreme official, its head of state, its flag or other recognized national symbol, or the flag of the United Nations or the flag of the European Union, shall be subjected to a fine or up to 2 years imprisonment. In cases of serious offences, the punishment shall take the form of up to 6 years imprisonment.
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1So if someone says, correctly, that Vladimir Putin is a terrible person, they could be fined or incarcerated for two to six years, depending on the inclinations of the judge? Go Iceland, I guess?– Obie 2.0Commented Nov 4, 2022 at 16:33
That would appear to be Germany with (according to Wikipedia):
[three years or up to] five years in prison if the act was intentionally used to support the eradication of the Federal Republic of Germany or to violate constitutional rights.
In the applications of the law, judges must balance the constitutional right to freedom of expression. So, for example, a desecrated flag as part of a valid piece of art would not be illegal.
Also the law uses "verunglimpft" (denigrate or diparage) rather than "respektlos behandeln" (disrespect)
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Linguistic note: "respektlos" is an adjective that means "disrespectful", not a verb. Commented Nov 4, 2022 at 9:56
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