A man who burned an Islamic ‘holy book’ in a demonstration outside the Turkish consulate, has won a landmark blasphemy case at the High Court.
According to The Telegraph, Hamit Coskun, 51, previously succeeded in overturning a conviction for holding up a flaming copy of the quran 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.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
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Blasphemy Through the Back Door
In a judgment handed down on 27 February 2026, Lord Justice Warby and Ms Justice Obi upheld the decision to overturn the conviction.
It is indeed a rare win for free speech. However the desperate decision of prosecutors to convict Mr. Coskun, and effectively reintroduce blasphemy laws by the backdoor, should be of great concern.
The Free Speech Union, which supported Coskun throughout proceedings, has now called for Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to resign following the “humiliating defeat”.
Earlier this month, Tim Owen KC, representing Mr. Coskun at a hearing, 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.
“This is a hopeless appeal,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what book it is, it could be Harry Potter or the Koran, but setting fire to it in central London completes the element of disorder.”
Before Friday’s judgment, Hamit warned that if he lost, he may be forced to “flee the UK and move to the US where President [Donald] Trump has stood for free speech and against Islamic extremism”.
Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
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The Back Story
Hamit Coskun arrived in England from Turkey in 2022 as a political asylum seeker. As an Armenian Kurd born and raised in Turkey, he had fled persecution at the hands of the Turkish authorities, and the increasingly theocratic Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
By the beginning of 2025, he had had enough of Tayyip Erdoğan’s secularism and laws that drove Turkey in an Islamist direction. On 13th February, he travelled to the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge, west London, to make a pointed protest. He then set fire to the Quran and held it above his head, shouting “Islam is a religion of terrorism” and “f— Islam”.
As he did so, passer-by Moussa Kadri attacked him, slashing at Coskun with a knife and then kicking him when he fell to the ground.
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 case and argued he was being accused of blasphemy.
What Happened to Caskun’s Attacker?
While Hamit Coskun was prosecuted for “religiously aggravated disorderly behaviour”, his attacker, Moussa Kadri, appeared to receive more lenient treatment.
At Southwark Crown Court in September, the judge noted that Kadri had been “deeply offended” by Coskun’s desecration of the Holy Qur’an.
After pleading guilty to common assault and possession of a knife in a public place, Mr Kadri was given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay a £150 victim surcharge. By contrast, Mr Coskun had earlier been convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June 2025 and fined £240 for disorderly behaviour aggravated by hostility towards Muslims. The magistrate remarked that the assault on Mr Coskun demonstrated how “provocative” his actions had been.
In a country where knife crime is treated with the utmost seriousness, questions have been raised as to why the Crown Prosecution Service appeared to prioritise pursuing a ‘Quran-burning’ case while a knife offence resulted in a suspended sentence.
Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
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Britain’s Christian Heritage and the Question of Blasphemy
In practical terms, the judgment reinforces that blasphemy is no longer a criminal offence in the United Kingdom, having been formally abolished in 2008. And for context, the abolished blasphemy law was put in place to protect Christianity.
For a nation whose laws, calendar, and institutions were historically shaped by the Christian faith, the implications are profound. A return to blasphemy legislation would represent not merely a legal shift but a moral statement, reaffirming that the public square should not be entirely detached from the country’s spiritual inheritance.
Additionally, the debate raises questions about integration and civic responsibility. Britain has long prided itself on offering refuge and opportunity to people of many backgrounds; yet with that openness comes an expectation that newcomers recognise and respect the cultural and religious foundations that underpin national life. In this view, restoring blasphemy protections would be framed not as suppressing dissent but as re-establishing boundaries of civility in a plural society.
Isaiah 10:1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed.
Integration
The National Director for Christian Voice, Stephen Green wrote: “The plain fact is, British Muslims show little inclination to integrate into British society. In a great number of our towns, they have formed their own enclaves in which English, where spoken at all, is a second language. Yet they now demand ‘equal treatment’ and the freedom to express their views and beliefs.
“Would this include the belief among a section of Muslim men that poor, white, working-class British girls from broken family backgrounds, often in local-authority care, are legitimate prey for sexual exploitation and rape? Let us not forget our establishment tried to cover up that scandal, in the name of the same ‘multi-culturalism’ and ‘diversity’ expounded by the ‘Islamophobia working group’.”
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Read and pray
READ: Gen 1:27; 2Chr 19:6; Prov 17:15; Prov 18:5; Prov 21:15; Eccl 5:8; Ecc 8:11; Isa 1:17; Hab 1:4; Zeph 3:5; Rom 13:4; 1Ptr 2:14.
PRAY: For moral clarity in the nation: that truth, wisdom, and reverence for God would shape public life and leadership.
For unity grounded in righteousness: that communities would pursue peace without compromising conviction.
For bold and gracious witness: that the Church would speak with courage, love, and discernment in a changing culture.
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