Man who burned Koran guilty of religiously aggravated public order offence

The burning of a Koran outside the Turkish consulate in London amounted to a religiously aggravated public order offence, a judge has found.

Hamit Coskun, 50, shouted “f*** Islam”, “Islam is religion of terrorism” and “Koran is burning” as he held the flaming Islamic text aloft in Rutland Gardens, Knightsbridge, on February 13, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard last week.

District Judge John McGarva delivered his verdict at the same court on Monday.

Your actions in burning the Koran where you did were highly provocative, and your actions were accompanied by bad language in some cases directed toward the religion and were motivated at least in part by hatred of followers of the religion

Coskun was found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence of using disorderly behaviour “within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress”, motivated by “hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam”, contrary to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

District Judge McGarva said Coskun’s conduct was “provocative and taunting”.

Addressing Coskun, the judge said: “After considering the evidence, I find you have a deep-seated hatred of Islam and its followers.

“That’s based on your experiences in Turkey and the experiences of your family. It’s not possible to separate your views about the religion to your views about the followers.

“Your actions in burning the Koran where you did were highly provocative, and your actions were accompanied by bad language in some cases directed toward the religion and were motivated at least in part by hatred of followers of the religion.

“Your evidence was that your criticism is of Islam in general, not its followers; I don’t accept that. You believe Islam is an ideology that encourages its followers to violence, paedophilia and disregard for the rights of non-believers, you don’t distinguish between the two.”

The judge added: “Standing holding a burning Koran and saying loudly: ‘Koran is burning’ is clearly aimed at provoking others.

“I do accept that the choice of location was in part that you wanted to protest what you see as the Islamification of Turkey. But you were also motivated by the hatred of Muslims and knew some would be at the location.”

District Judge McGarva said the prosecution was not “an attempt to bring back and expand blasphemy law”, adding “it is clearly not an offence to criticise a religion”.

He added: “Burning a religious book, although offensive to some, is not necessarily disorderly.

“What made his conduct disorderly was the timing and location of the conduct and that all this was accompanied by abusive language.”

Coskun was fined £240, with a statutory surcharge of £96.

The National Secular Society (NSS) branded the verdict a “significant blow to freedom of expression” which “signals a concerning capitulation to Islamic blasphemy codes”.

Turkey-born Coskun, who is half Kurdish and half Armenian, travelled from his home in the Midlands and set fire to the Koran at around 2pm, the court heard.

In footage captured on a mobile phone by a passerby that was shown to the court, a man approached and asked Coskun why he was burning a copy of the Koran.

Coskun can be heard making a reference to “terrorist” and the man called the defendant “a f****** idiot”.

The man approached him allegedly holding a knife or bladed article and appeared to slash out at him, the court heard.

The footage appeared to show Coskun back away and use the burning Koran to deflect the attacker, who is alleged to have slashed out at him again.

The man chased Coskun, and the defendant stumbled forward and fell to the ground, dropping the Koran, the footage showed.

Coskun was spat at and kicked by the man, the court heard.

The man said: “Burning the Koran? It’s my religion, you don’t burn the Koran.”

Coskun had posted on social media that he was protesting against the “Islamist government” of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who the defendant allegedly said “has made Turkey a base for radical Islamists and is trying to establish a Sharia regime”, prosecutors said.

The defendant, who is an atheist, believes that he protested peacefully and burning the Koran amounted to freedom of expression, the court heard.

Religious tolerance is an important British value, but it doesn’t require non-believers to respect the blasphemy codes of believers. On the contrary, it requires people of faith to tolerate those who criticise and protest against their religion, just as their values and beliefs are tolerated

His legal fees are being paid for by the NSS and the Free Speech Union (FSU), which said they intend to appeal against the verdict “and keep on appealing it until it’s overturned”.

An FSU spokesperson said: “If that means taking it all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, we will do so.

“Religious tolerance is an important British value, but it doesn’t require non-believers to respect the blasphemy codes of believers. On the contrary, it requires people of faith to tolerate those who criticise and protest against their religion, just as their values and beliefs are tolerated.”

NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: “The court’s acceptance of the prosecution’s assertion that Mr Coskun’s actions stemmed from hostility towards Muslims raises serious concerns. It is essential to differentiate between prejudice or hatred aimed at individuals and hostility towards the ideologies of Islam or Islamism.

“The conviction of Mr Coskun on the grounds that his actions were ‘likely’ to cause harassment, alarm, or distress suggests a troubling repurposing of public order laws as a proxy for blasphemy laws. This jeopardises freedom of expression by establishing a ‘heckler’s veto’ that incentivises violent responses to suppress views deemed offensive.

“Such an erosion of free speech is detrimental to community relations. Social cohesion is best achieved not by restricting rights but by fostering their free exercise.”