Overview

• Coskun’s February 13 protest outside the Turkish consulate in London involved burning a Koran and shouting abusive phrases captured on video.
• Mr Justice Bennathan stressed there is no blasphemy offence in UK law and said free speech protects expression that offends, shocks or disturbs.
• The court found the Section 5 Public Order Act threshold was not met because the conduct was not shown to be disorderly or likely to distress someone present.
• Context cited by the judge included the brief duration, daylight setting, solitary protester, and a consulate being a recognized site for political demonstrations.
• Prosecutors relied on Coskun’s prior social media to argue hostility toward Muslims, while the appeal was funded by the NSS and FSU and drew support from Robert Jenrick.