from Religion Media Centre
The decision to prosecute a man for burning the Quran is “tantamount to reintroducing a blasphemy law” in Britain, Westminster magistrates were told yesterday.
Hamit Coskun, 50, allegedly shouted “Islam is religion of terrorism” and “Quran is burning” as he held the Islamic text aloft outside the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge, west London, in February.
Coskun denied a religiously aggravated public order offence and an alternative charge. Katy Thorne KC, defending, said: “The prosecution … is seeking to introduce a law unknown to this land, namely blasphemy in relation to Islam.” Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021.
The trial continues. Times report here.