Koran Burner Wins Landmark Blasphemy Case

A man who burned a Koran in a demonstration outside the Turkish consulate has won a landmark blasphemy case at the High Court.

Hamit Coskun, 51, previously succeeded in overturning a conviction for holding up a flaming copy of the holy book and shouting “f—- Islam”, in what he insisted was a political protest.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed against the decision, claiming his actions were criminal and amounted to disorderly conduct.

In a judgment handed down on Friday, Lord Justice Warby and Ms Justice Obi upheld the decision to overturn the conviction.

The Free Speech Union, which supported Mr Coskun throughout proceedings, has now called for Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, to resign following the “humiliating defeat”.

Free speech campaigners had argued that if Mr Coskun lost his case, Britain would have introduced a blasphemy law by the back door.

At a hearing earlier this month, Tim Owen KC, representing Mr Coskun, said the appeal by the CPS was attempting to make burning any book on the streets of London a disorderly act as a matter of law.

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Mr Coskun, who is of Armenian-Kurdish descent, travelled from his home in the Midlands to the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge in February last year.

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As he did so, passer-by Moussa Kadri attacked him, slashing at Mr Coskun with a blade and then kicking him when he fell to the ground.

In September, Kadri was given a 20-week prison sentence for attacking Mr Coskun, suspended for 18 months.

Mr Coskun was originally charged by the CPS with harassing the “religious institution of Islam”.

However, the charge was later amended after the National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union (FSU) took up his cause and argued he was being accused of blasphemy.

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