A man who was fined for burning a Qur’an outside the Turkish consulate in London has successfully appealed against his conviction after a judge upheld his “right to offend”. Hamit Coskun had been found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence in June for setting fire to the holy book while shouting “fuck Islam” and “Islam is religion of terrorism”.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court had ruled that Coskun’s actions were motivated by hostility towards Muslims, citing prejudicial comments made during his police interview. However, Coskun argued that his criticism was directed at Islam as a religion, not its followers. His appeal, backed by the Free Speech Union and the National Secular Society, was heard at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.
Mr Justice Bennathan overturned the conviction, stating that while burning a Qur’an might be “desperately upsetting and offensive” to many Muslims, the right to freedom of expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb”. Coskun, who is half Kurdish and half Armenian and was born in Turkey, said he came to England “to be able to speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam” and felt reassured by the ruling.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick attended the hearing and said he did not agree with burning the Qur’an but added: “I don’t believe it’s a crime.” Campaigners argued that the prosecution amounted to an inadvertent reintroduction of blasphemy laws, which were abolished in England and Wales in 2008. Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Union, said the ruling sent a message that “anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated”.
The National Secular Society described the judgment as “an important victory for freedom of expression”, while a Humanists UK spokesperson expressed relief at the conviction being overturned, though they disagreed with Coskun’s prejudicial views. They noted concerns about gaps in the law that could undermine free speech protections and pledged to continue campaigning for the fullest freedom of expression laws.
