Man who burned Koran outside Turkish embassy while shouting 'f*** Islam' found guilty of public order offence

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A man who set fire to a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish consulate in London has been convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence.
Hamit Coskun, 50, who shouted 'f*** Islam', 'Islam is religion of terrorism' and 'Koran is burning' while holding the flaming Islamic text above his head, was ordered to pay £240 as a result of his conviction.
He was found guilty of a public order offence motivated by 'hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam'.
Coskun was also found guilty of using disorderly conduct 'within the hearing or sight of a person likely to have caused harassment, alarm or distress', contrary to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Responding to the verdict, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'This decision is wrong. It revives a blasphemy law that parliament repealed.
'Free speech is under threat. I have no confidence in Two-Tier Keir to defend the right of the public to criticise all religions.'
Conservative MP Nick Timothy added: 'We now have a blasphemy law in this country.
'Parliament never voted for it. The country doesn't want it.
'I will introduce a Bill to put a stop to all this next week.'
Last week in court, Coskun's lawyer Katy Thorne KC argued that the Crown Prosecution Services were trying to effectively reintroduce and expand blasphemy laws in the United Kingdom.
The CPS argued that Mr Coskun was not being prosecuted for burning the book, it was the combination of his insulting remarks about Islam and the fact he did it in public.
The court also heard how Coskun, who is an atheist, was attacked by a passerby who was allegedly holding a knife, on February 13 after he had set fire to the religious text.
Footage shown in court and captured on a mobile phone appeared to show a man approach Coskun while allegedly holding a bladed object.
The man then chased Coskun and spat at him and kicked him after he had fallen over and dropped the Koran, the court heard.
In the video Coskun's alleged attacker could also be heard saying: 'Burning the Koran. It's my religion, you don't burn the Koran.'
Giving his verdict, District Judge McGarva said about Hamit Coskun: 'Your actions in burning the Koran where you did were highly provocative, and your actions were accompanied by bad language in some cases directed toward the religion and were motivated at least in part by hatred of followers of the religion.'
Coskun, who is now in hiding and has both Kurdish and Armenian heritage, had to flee his home country of Turkey two and a half years ago to escape persecution, the court was told.
He argued he was protesting against the 'Islamist government' of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union jointly paid Mr Coskun's legal fees.
Responding to the ruling, NSS Chief Executive Stephen Evans said: 'The outcome of this case is a significant blow to freedom of expression and signals a concerning capitulation to Islamic blasphemy codes.'
A spokesperson for the Free Speech Union continued: 'This is deeply disappointing.
'Everyone should be able to exercise their rights to protest peacefully and to freedom of expression, regardless of how offensive or upsetting it may be to some people.
'The Free Speech Union and the National Secular Society intend to appeal this verdict and keep on appealing it until it's overturned. If that means taking it all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, we will do so."
'Religious tolerance is an important British value, but it doesn't require non-believers to respect the blasphemy codes of believers.
'On the contrary, it requires people of faith to tolerate those who criticise and protest against their religion, just as their values and beliefs are tolerated.'