A Turkish-born 51-year-old man, Hamit Coskun, who was fined for burning a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London, has won his appeal against conviction, in a case hailed as a landmark victory for free speech in the United Kingdom.
Coskun was originally found guilty in June at Westminster Magistrates’ Court of a religiously aggravated public order offence and fined £240 after he set fire to the Islamic holy book outside the consulate on Rutland Gardens, Knightsbridge, on 13 February, according to the BBC.
At the time, Coskun was accused of shouting abusive remarks about Islam while holding the flaming Quran aloft.
District Judge John McGarva, who convicted him, described his conduct as “provocative and taunting,” saying Coskun had “a deep-seated hatred of Islam and its followers.”
However, on Friday, Southwark Crown Court overturned the conviction. Delivering judgment, Mr Justice Bennathan ruled that while the act of burning a Quran was deeply offensive to many Muslims, it nonetheless fell within the bounds of lawful expression.
“Burning a Quran might be something many Muslims find desperately upsetting and offensive,” the judge said, “but the right to freedom of expression must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.”
He continued: “We live in a liberal democracy. One of the precious rights that affords us is to express our own views and read, hear and consider ideas without the state intervening to stop us doing so.
“The price we pay for that is having to allow others to exercise the same rights, even if that upsets, offends or shocks us.”
Following the ruling, Mr Coskun said he was “reassured” by the court’s decision. “I came to England to be able to speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam,” he said.
“Despite many troubling developments, I will now be free to educate the British public about my beliefs.”
During the February protest, the demonstration turned violent when a man, identified as 59-year-old Moussa Kadri, attacked Coskun with a large knife, later telling police he was protecting his religion.
Kadri received a suspended jail sentence last month.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick attended the appeal hearing, stating afterward that while he did not condone Coskun’s actions, “he did not believe it was a crime.”
Campaigners and civil liberties groups welcomed the ruling, warning that Coskun’s original conviction risked reintroducing “blasphemy laws by the back door.”
Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021.
Coskun had been charged under section five of the Public Order Act 1986 and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 for 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.”
The Free Speech Union, which helped fund Coskun’s legal case, described the outcome as a critical precedent.
Its director, Lord Young of Acton, 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.”
“Instead,” he continued, “the Crown Court has sent the opposite message, that anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated.”
The National Secular Society also praised the decision, calling it “an important victory for freedom of expression” and describing Coskun’s Quran-burning protest as “a lawful act of political dissent.”
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