Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

Pointing and laughing at religious lunacy for more than half-a-century

London man who burned a Koran to warn of ‘radical Islam’ wins appeal against his conviction

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HAMIT Coskun, inset, who set fire to a Koran outside the the Turkish consulate in London has won an appeal against his conviction after a judge backed his “right to offend”.

Coskun, who is half Kurdish and half Armenian and was born in Turkey, was found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence in June after shouting “fuck Islam” and “Islam is religion of terrorism” while burning the “holy” book in February.

Westminster magistrates court had found that Coskun’s actions were motivated at least in part by hostility towards Muslims due to prejudicial comments he made in his police interview. Coskun had argued his public criticism was of Islam in general rather than its followers.

In a legal challenge backed by the Free Speech Union and the National Secular Society, Coskun had the conviction overturned at Southwark crown court yesterday ( Friday).

Mr Justice Bennathan said that while burning a Koran might be something “many Muslims find desperately upsetting and offensive”, the right to freedom of expression:

Must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.

After the ruling, Coskun said he had come to England “to be able to speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam” and was now “reassured that, despite many troubling developments, I will now be free to educate the British public about my beliefs”.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, who attended the hearing, said he did not agree with burning the Koran. But he added: “I don’t believe it’s a crime.”

He and other campaigners had argued the prosecution and conviction was akin to blasphemy being reintroduced “inadvertently, by our court service”. Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021.

Toby Young, the director of the Free Speech Union, said the ruling sent a message that:

Anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated. 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, thereby making him or her guilty of having caused public disorder.

The National Secular Society said the judgment was “an important victory for freedom of expression”, describing Coskun’s protest as a “lawful act of political dissent”.

National Secular Society chief executive Stephen Evans yesterday said:

We welcome today’s judgment as an important victory for freedom of expression. Hamit Coskun’s protest was a lawful act of political dissent. There is no need to condone the nature of his demonstration — what is important is that it was not criminal.

He added

Today’s decision reaffirms the vital principle that free speech protects the right to offend, shock, or disturb — even when it challenges deeply held religious beliefs. England and Wales rightly abolished its blasphemy laws more than a decade ago. This ruling helps ensure they are not reintroduced by stealth under the guise of public order, and that our commitment to free speech remains strong. Crucially, the judgment also draws a clear line between attacks on individuals and criticism of ideas. This distinction is essential to a healthy democracy, and this case should serve as a turning point for it to be better understood and reflected in public policy.

A Humanists UK spokesperson said:

We are delighted and relieved to see Hamit’s conviction overturned. While we do not agree with the appellant’s prejudicial views about Muslims, he did not express these at the time of the act for which he was previously charged and the judge has now found he shouldn’t have been convicted.

The spokesperson added:

We are concerned that this case has highlighted gaps in the law that could allow vital free speech protections to fall by the wayside. We will continue to campaign to uphold the fullest freedom of expression laws limited only to prevent harm to others.

Coskun’s action led to a knife attack against him by a Muslim.

Image via YouTube

Moussa Kadri was given a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, 150 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation.

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6 responses to “London man who burned a Koran to warn of ‘radical Islam’ wins appeal against his conviction”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Common sense reigns, for how long‽

    Like

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  2. matilddaa Avatar
    matilddaa

    After deconverting, I hated seeing my bible on the shelf. I was beginning to read atheist blogs and there were comments against the then new-ish trend of fundy US-ians publicly burning LGBT+ books. They said book-burning was what the nazis did, it was the start of a ‘slippery slope.’ So I shredded by bible and added it gradually to my compost bin. I enjoyed a good crop of raspberries and strawberries that year. A friend was in the same position. A local church put 2 bibles through her door, (a mistake by the distributors doing her street I guess.) We joked that maybe the lawd had told them she was especially wicked! Triggered like I was, but living in an upstairs flat, she took them into the communal garden and set fire to them in an old saucepan. We celebrated with wine together……and felt free of a creeping PTSD about that horrible book that had enslaved us for decades!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. malcolmjdodd Avatar
      malcolmjdodd

      Disposing of religious literature, of all faiths, in hotel rooms around the world is my method of ensuring that the following occupants will sleep soundly!

      73 years ago, as children age 9, my best friend and I left the methodist chapel (we were forced to go) in St Andrews Guernsey and followed the advice of the minister to ‘go forth and spread the word’ which we did, page by page into the wind – we were expelled and that was the end of our contact with religion, our parents were not at all happy with the ‘desecration’ of their bibles.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. matilddaa Avatar
        matilddaa

        I love that, taking the command literally! I went on my first cruise and found a bible there. My cabin steward knocked to ask if I needed anything. So I handed it to him and said I couldn’t have it there for the 10 day cruise. A young man from Goa, I expect he was used to his guests’ odd requests. But he did look a bit puzzled that this elderly, conventionally dressed brit wanted ‘her’ holy book removed!

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        1. Avatar
          Anonymous

          Bravo Matilda.

          Goa was Portuguese until fairly recently, so it was possible that the steward welcomed your gift!!

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          1. matilddaa Avatar
            matilddaa

            I’m sure he would return it to my cabin once I’d left surely. I was on this first cruise at the invitation of my sister in law who has done over 50 P&O cruises. A chatty soul, she found that this company doesn’t treat its staff well. As well as leaving the customary tip for your steward, she makes up a gift bag of chocolates etc, so I did the same. My Goan guy said he was returning home at the end of this voyage to see his small children after 9months at sea. So I tried to put a few kiddy-treats in my gift to him. I was reminded how fortunate some of us in the west are, we can marry and have children without our husbands having to go to another continent for months or years at a time to earn money to keep us all alive.

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