Blasphemy in the UK

The Free Press reports:

On February 13, 2025, Hamit Coskun set fire to his copy of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in London. Coskun—an atheist who fled persecution from the Turkish authorities in 2022—was there to protest Islamic extremism in his home country. For this act, he was assaulted and knocked to the ground by a bystander, kicked by another passerby, and charged with a “religiously aggravated public order offense” by the Crown Prosecution Service.

At his sentencing, a UK district judge told Coskun that his protest was “provocative,” concluding that he had been driven by “a deep-seated hatred of Islam and its followers.” But in the account below, Coskun insists that he was attacking ideas, not people. He warns that the same religious authoritarianism he fled in his home country is now infecting his adoptive country, too.

So he got assaulted and beaten up for what should be a lawful act, but for good measure he was prosecuted also.

Although the man who assaulted me is being prosecuted separately, the Crown says his action helped to prove my guilt. It argued that because I was attacked, my behavior must not have been peaceful. Under this logic, “disorderly” no longer depends on conduct, but on how offended or aggressive someone else chooses to be in response.

This is like the logic that saw Lucy Rogers arrested for her peaceful counter-protest. The more violent someone may be against you, then you should be arrested as a consequence!

If every protest against Islam is presumed to be a protest against Muslims, if criticism of doctrine is redefined as hatred of believers, then space for lawful criticism of that religion—or any religion—collapses. My case turned on that blurring of categories.

I think the Church of Latter Day Saints was stated by a fraudster and is basically a big con. However I also think individual Mormons are some of the best people around. You can have a negative view of a religion, and not at all have a negative view of individuals in that religion.

To be fair, somewhat harder with Scientology!

The Free Speech Union funded my defense and stands ready to provide any assistance needed to get this judgment overturned. Because this is no longer just about me. It is about whether Britain still believes that no religion is beyond criticism, especially when it shapes public life and political power. That was the principle I was imprisoned for defending in Turkey, and it was the principle I was defending outside the Turkish consulate. I have no intention of abandoning that fight.

Good.