Man who burned Koran convicted of religiously aggravated public order offence
The man who burnt a Koran outside a Turkish consulate committed a religiously aggravated public order offence, a judge has ruled.
Hamit Coskun, 50, faced a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court last week.
He shouted 'f*** Islam ', 'Islam is religion of terrorism' and 'Koran is burning' as he held the flaming book aloft in Knightsbridge, London, on 13 February, the court heard.
District Judge John McGarva delivered his verdict at the same court on Monday.
He found Coskun guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence of using disorderly behaviour 'within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress', motivated by 'hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam', contrary to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Giving his verdict, District Judge McGarva said: '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's conviction under the Public Order Act is 'deeply disappointing', the Free Speech Union (FSU), one of his backers, said.
'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,' a spokesperson for the FSU said.
'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', the spokesperson said.
'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.'
The National Secular Society (NSS), which alongside the Free Speech Union paid for Coskun's legal fees, said the verdict 'jeopardises' free expression.
'The outcome of this case is a significant blow to freedom of expression and signals a concerning capitulation to Islamic blasphemy codes,' NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said.
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