LONDON: A Turkish-born man who burned a Qur'an in London won an appeal on Friday against his conviction, in a ruling hailed by free-speech campaigners.
Hamit Coskun, 51, was found guilty in June of a religiously aggravated public order offense and was issued with a fine.
He had set the religious book alight outside the Turkish consulate in London in February while shouting slogans against Islam.
His case was taken up by the National Secular Society (NSS) and the Free Speech Union (FSU), who argued that Coskun was essentially being prosecuted for blasphemy.
Ruling in Coskun’s favor, judge Joel Bennathan told Southwark Crown Court on Friday that: “There is no offense of blasphemy in our law.”
“Burning a Qur'an may be an act that many Muslims find desperately upsetting and offensive,” according to the judge.
He said that the criminal law does not seek to “avoid people being upset, even grievously upset.”
“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,” he added.
Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008.
In a statement, Coskun, who is half-Kurdish and half-Armenian, said he came to England “having been persecuted in Turkiye, to be able to speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam.”
“I am reassured that, despite many troubling developments, I will now be free to educate the British public about my beliefs,” he added.
The FSU said the successful appeal sent a message that “anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated.”
Coskun has also received the support of the opposition Conservative party’s justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick.
Turkish-born man who burned Qur'an in London wins appeal
https://arab.news/n6yf6
Turkish-born man who burned Qur'an in London wins appeal
- Coskun had set the religious book alight outside the Turkish consulate in London in February
- Judge Bennathan told Southwark Crown Court that: “There is no offense of blasphemy in our law“
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
