Hamit Coskun, a Grantham, Lincolnshire resident, is challenging his conviction after receiving a fine for setting fire to a Quran outside London’s Turkish consulate at the beginning of this year. The February incident led to Coskun’s conviction at Westminster Magistrates Court for a religiously aggravated public order offence. Evidence presented to the court indicated that Coskun audibly insulted Islam while displaying the burning book. He was then fined £240 plus an additional statutory surcharge.
In his appeal, which was presented at Southwark Crown Court, Coskun maintains that his actions were a rightful exercise of his freedom of expression as granted by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Tim Owen KC, Coskun’s legal representation, posits that the protest was a valid expression of disapproval against the Turkish government and Islam as a religious institution.
Coskun’s appeal has garnered the support of organisations such as the National Secular Society and the Free Speech Union. They suggest that Coskun’s case misappropriates the Public Order Act and caution against it being used as a contemporary blasphemy law.
Being of Turkish Kurdish and Armenian heritage, Coskun has experienced notable hostility resulting from his actions, including assault by Moussa Kadri, who was later given a suspended sentence for his crime. The judgement on the appeal is yet to be delivered, fueling ongoing debates around the appropriate equilibrium between free speech and public order.
This narrative was revised by The Lincoln Post based on original reporting from www.bbc.com.
