The defence said that Hamit Coskun should be protected to “express his personal criticism of Turkey and its stance on Islam” – and argued a conviction would effectively revive blasphemy laws.
Hamit Coskun was accused of shouting “f*** Islam” and “Islam is religion of terrorism” as he held up a burning copy of the holy Islamic text in Knightsbridge, London, in February.
Today, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, he was found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence.
Delivering the verdict, district judge John McGarva said: “Your actions in burning the Quran 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.”
He ordered Coskun to pay a £240 fine, with a statutory surcharge of £96.
The National Secular Society (NSS), which together with another organisation paid his legal fees, called it a “significant blow to freedom of expression”.
The 50-year-old had denied 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 the Public Order Act 1986.
He also pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge of using disorderly behaviour “within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress”, contrary to section five of the Public Order Act 1986.
The charges were alternative, meaning only one or the other would apply, not both.
Prosecutors said that Mr Coskun had written on social media he was protesting the “Islamist government” of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who “made Turkey a base for radical Islamists and is trying to establish a Sharia regime”.
Barrister Katy Thorne KC, defending, last week argued the prosecution was effectively trying to revive blasphemy laws, which were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and Scotland in 2021.
Coskun, who has both Kurdish and Armenian heritage but was born in Turkey, travelled from his home in the Midlands and set fire to the Koran on the afternoon of 13 February, the court heard last week.
Footage aired in court showed another man confront Coskun, allegedly holding a knife and saying: “It’s my religion, you don’t burn the Koran.”
The recording appeared to show Coskun backing away and using the burning Koran to fend off the attacker, who is alleged to have slashed out at him again.
The defendant, an atheist, believes he was protesting peacefully, and that burning the Koran was a right under his freedom of expression, the court had heard.
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.”
It establishes a “heckler’s veto” that “incentivises violent responses to suppress views deemed offensive”, he said.
Mr Evans continued: Social cohesion is best achieved not by restricting rights, but by fostering their free exercise.”
Blasphemy laws were formally abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021. They remain in place in Northern Ireland.
