AN activist who burnt the Koran in an anti-Islam protest has had his right to free speech backed by judges.
Hamit Coskun, who set the religious text alight while shouting “F*** Islam!” outside the Turkish embassy in London a year ago, was convicted of a public order offence in June.
It had sparked fears the Public Order Act could be used as a backdoor blasphemy law to silence critics of religion.
The atheist and asylum seeker, 51, appealed against his conviction, which was eventually quashed, before the Crown Prosecution Service appealed against the acquittal earlier this year.
Yesterday, Royal Court of Justice judges ruled the earlier decision to clear Coskun was the correct one.
They agreed with Mr Justice Bennathan, who had said that the right to freedom of expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb”.
Mr Coskun said: “In England, I hoped that I would be free to speak about the damage of sectarian politics and Islamism.
“I am relieved that, after a year, the courts have ruled that I am free to do so.”
