Denmark blacklists Christian pastor, five Islamic clerics as 'hate preachers'

A Christian pastor from the U.S. has been included in Denmark's first list of foreign "hate preachers" who are banned from entering the country.

Terry Jones, a Florida evangelical Christian pastor who sparked outrage in 2010 for threatening to burn copies of the Quran, was listed by the Danish government as a hate preacher along with five Islamic clerics.

According to Reuters, the Islamic clerics that made it to the inaugural sanction list were Kamal El-Mekki from the United States; Bilal Philips, a Canadian who currently lives in Qatar; Mohamad al-Arifi and Salman al-Ouda from Saudi Arabia; and Mohammad Rateb al-Nabulsi from Syria.

It has been reported that Philips and El-Mekki had been in Denmark in the past, but it is unclear whether the others have visited the Scandinavian country.

The creation of the list was announced last year, following the airing of a hidden-camera documentary titled "Mosques Behind the Veil," which featured radical preachers in Danish mosques.

"The government will not accept that hate preachers come to Denmark to preach hatred against Danish society and indoctrinate others to commit violence against women and children, spread ideas about an (Islamic) caliphate and in general undermine our fundamental values," said Inger Støjberg, the immigration and integration minister, as reported by CPH Post Online.

"So I am naturally very pleased that it is now clear to everyone that these people are not welcome in Denmark," she added.

The legislation underpinning the creation of the list was passed in December 2016, with the support of the right-leaning government as well as the opposition Social Democrats. The law stated that it applies to those for whom there was a "reasonable likelihood" they would enter the country.

It also noted that foreigners could be included in the list if they have "displayed behaviour that gives reason to believe that the foreigner is a threat to public order in Denmark."

Denmark is not the only country in Europe to pass such legislation. The United Kingdom has a law that allows the government to block individuals with criminal convictions or those whose presence is "not conducive to the public good" from entering the country.

The Scandinavian country's Immigration Service, will be implementing the ban on hate preachers, and it will continuously assess which clerics should be placed on the blacklist.

Denmark became a target of Islamic extremists in 2005 after a Danish newspaper published cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons led to a number of deadly protests in the Muslim world.