London: President Vladimir Putin declared on Wednesday that desecration of the Holy Qur'an is illegal and will result in punishment.

In spite of other nations' disregard for the Qur'an's sanctity, Putin asserted during a visit to Derbent in the predominantly Muslim Dagestan Autonomous Republic that Russia would always uphold its sanctity.

While receiving a copy of the holy book during a visit to the revered mosque of Derbent, where he met Muslim representatives from Dagestan, he said, "In our country, both according to the Constitution and the penal code, this is a crime."

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He thanked the officials for the gift, saying, "The Qur'an is sacred to Muslims and ought to be sacred to others." We'll follow these guidelines at all times.

Putin made his remarks on the same day that a man tore up and burned a copy of the Qur'an outside Stockholm's main mosque, an act that drew strong criticism from Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.

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According to a Saudi foreign ministry statement, "These hateful and repeated acts cannot be justified in any way, and they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism. They also directly oppose international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism, and they undermine the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and states.

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The man was later charged by Swedish police with inciting hatred against a national or ethnic group.