A Kurdish–Armenian man who burnt a Quran outside Turkey’s embassy in the UK won an appeal on Friday, October 10th, against his conviction, in a ruling hailed by free–speech campaigners.
Hamit Coskun, 51, was found guilty in June of a religiously aggravated public order offence and issued with a fine. Coskun, who was born in Turkey, had set the religious book alight outside Ankara’s consulate in London in February while shouting slogans against Islam.
His case was taken up by the National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union (FSU), who argued that Coskun was essentially being prosecuted for blasphemy.
Ruling in Coskun’s favour, Judge Joel Bennathan told Southwark Crown Court that no offence of blasphemy has existed in English and Welsh law since 2008.
Judge Bennathan noted that while burning a Quran may be deeply offensive to many Muslims, the criminal law is not designed to shield people from being upset–—even profoundly so. He added that
the right to freedom of expression, if it is a right worth having, must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.
In a statement, Coskun said he came to England “having been persecuted in Turkey, to be able to speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam.”
I am reassured that, despite many troubling developments, I will now be free to educate the British public about my beliefs.
