Man who burned Koran in London wins appeal against conviction

A man who burned a Koran in London has won an appeal against a conviction which campaigners had criticised as an attempt to bring back blasphemy law.

Hamit Coskun was found guilty earlier this year of a religiously aggravated public order offence having shouted “f*** Islam” while holding the flaming religious text aloft outside the Turkish consulate in England’s capital city in February.

But, backed by free speech campaigners, the 51-year-old successfully appealed against the conviction, with a judge finding in his favour at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Turkey-born Mr Coskun, who is half-Kurdish and half-Armenian and lives in England, had his legal case funded by the National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union (FSU).

Mr Justice Bennathan said that while burning a Koran might be something “many Muslims find desperately upsetting and offensive”, the right to freedom of expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb”.

In the wake of the ruling, Mr Coskun said he had come to England “to be able to speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam” and was now “reassured that – despite many troubling developments – I will now be free to educate the British public about my beliefs”.

Mr Coskun’s appeal case was also attended this week by Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who said while he did not agree with what Mr Coskun had done: “I don’t believe it’s a crime”.

Mr Jenrick and other campaigners had argued the prosecution and conviction was akin to blasphemy being reintroduced “by the back door, inadvertently, by our court service”.

Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021.

In Northern Ireland such laws date back to the early 19th century and, while rarely used, blasphemy and blasphemous libel remain offences.

Mr Coskun’s trial in June saw him convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court 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 five of the Public Order Act 1986.

The Free Speech Union said the ruling sends a message that “anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated”.

Lord Toby Young of Acton, director of the union, which helped fund Mr Coskun’s legal case, said: “We’re delighted.

“Had the verdict been allowed to stand, it would have sent a message to religious fundamentalists up and down the country that all they need to do to enforce their blasphemy codes is to violently attack the blasphemer, thereby making him or her guilty of having caused public disorder.

“Instead, the Crown Court has sent the opposite message – that anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated.”

The National Secular Society said the judgment was “an important victory for freedom of expression”, describing Mr Coskun’s protest as a “lawful act of political dissent”.