A National Secular Society-backed appeal has seen a man’s conviction for burning a copy of the Quran overturned.
Hamit Coskun was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June after setting fire to a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London.
But Southwark Crown Court today overturned that decision, finding that Coskun’s actions could not “properly be found to be disorderly”, or to be “within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress”.
In its remarks, the Court noted 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”.
Highlighting that there is “no offence of blasphemy in our law”, the Court added that whilst burning a Quran may be an act that many Muslims find “desperately upsetting and offensive”, the criminal law is “not a mechanism that seeks to avoid people being upset, even grievously upset”.
Coskun says his “symbolic, non-violent expression of dissent” was motivated by concerns about increasing theocracy in Turkey. At his trial in June, Coskun said his protest was directed against the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for policies which he said are turning Turkey into a “base for radical Islamists”.
An atheist of Armenian and Kurdish heritage, Coskun has a long history of protesting against the Turkish government. In 1993, he was arrested in Turkey for being a member of the People’s Labour Party and tortured while in detention. Coskun’s brother was also murdered in 1997 for his activism.
Coskun’s appeal was joint-funded by the National Secular Society and the Free Speech Union
Coskun was originally charged with intent to cause “harassment, alarm or distress” against “the religious institution of Islam”. Following interventions by the NSS, the Crown Prosecution Service said the wording of the charge was “incorrectly applied” and substituted a new charge.
Blasphemy was abolished as a common law offence in England and Wales in 2008. Last year, the Government said it would not reintroduce blasphemy laws, after Tahir Ali MP asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and prophets of the Abrahamic religions”.
NSS: Judgement “important victory for freedom of expression”
National Secular Society chief executive Stephen Evans 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.
“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.”