UK man charged for burning Quran amid 'blasphemy law' accusations

Charges against a man who burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London have been altered amid a right-wing backlash

Hamit Coskun, 50, set fire to the Quran outside the Turkish embassy, claiming this was in solidarity with Iraqi asylum seeker Salwan Momika who was shot dead in January 2025 after burning multiple copies of the Quran in Sweden.

He also said he was protesting against Turkey's Islamist-leaning president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is charging Coskun of disorderly behaviour "within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress," according to The Daily Telegraph.

The charges say that Coskun shouted "f*** Islam", and "Islam is religion of terrorism" and "Quran is burning", adding that "at the time of doing so, and in doing so, he was motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam".

The charge against Coskun was changed following right-wing backlash, with Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick posting a photo on X of an email explaining that the CPS sought to charge Coskun over "intent to cause against the religious institution of Islam harassment, alarm or distress".

Jenrick, who has a history of pro-Israeli and anti-Muslim statements added that "Blasphemy laws were abolished in Britain for good reason. They must not return through the back door."

Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008.

The CPS said that the original charge was "incorrectly applied", with the update "more accurately reflect[ing] the alleged offensive."

British secularist organisations have also criticised the case, with a spokesperson for Humanists UK saying on Friday: "Prosecutors should not be innovating new ways to charge people for 'blasphemy' after blasphemy laws were deliberately abolished. We are following this case closely and if the man is convicted, then the law needs to change."

However, Miqdaad Versi, the spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain, told The New Arab: "Burning the Quran - or any holy book – is wrong and against our values of mutual respect and tolerance for one another," adding that the acts are often used to "incite hatred against Muslims."

"Whilst the courts rightly have to balance free speech and current legislation on incitement to racial and religious hatred, we would urge people not to respond to such extreme acts and avoid giving such agitators the attention they crave."