In a case taken up by free-speech activists, a Turkish-born man who desecrated the holy Quran in London was found guilty on Monday of a religiously aggravated public order offense.
In February, 50-year-old Hamit Coskun desecrated the holy Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London while yelling, “Islam is religion of terrorism.”
Coskun was found guilty of employing disorderly behavior “within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm, or distress” by District Judge John McGarva of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.
With a statutory surcharge of £96, McGarva fined Coskun £240 ($325), citing “hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam” as his motivation.
