English judge Adam Hiddleston is facing criticism for his perverse approach to sentencing.
Wielding a knife, Moussa Kadri threatened and attacked a Turkish man for burning a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge, London. Kadri received a 20-week sentence, suspended for 18 months. Hiddleston cited the assailant’s acceptable police record and previous charity work, stating he was unlikely to reoffend.
Earlier this year Kadri’s victim, Hamit Coskun, was found guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court of burning his own copy of the Quran and of disorderly behaviour, fined £240 (€275) with a statutory surcharge of £96 (€110).
Critics have treated the different courtroom outcomes as a sign of double standards In English criminal law: too lenient with Muslims who act violently or, paraphrasing Hiddleston, ‘lose their tempers.’ In contrast, in 2021 the same judge sent a businessman to prison for one year for sending abusive emails to John Bercow and other politicians, calling the messages “vile.”
While The Spectator magazine called Hiddleston’s soft treatment of knife crime ‘a travesty of justice,’ Free Speech Union director Toby Young said the ruling could encourage others to use violence to punish blasphemy.
