United Kingdom closer to reintroducing the crime of blasphemy to protect Islam
The Prosecutor's Office accused a citizen of «harassing a religious institution» for burning a Qur'an. Under pressure, it backtracked and now only accuses him of public disorder.
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The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of the United Kingdom He has acknowledged that the initial charges against a man accused of burning a copy of the Qur'an were poorly drafted.. The original accusation was «to cause harassment, alarm or distress» against «the religious institution of Islam» for burning a Quran in front of the Turkish consulate in February.
Explain Secularism.org that the accusation caused alarm at the National Secular Society (NSS). This institution was founded 150 years ago to promote a secular society. It accused the prosecution of «The reinstatement of a blasphemy offence in English law by the back door«With the formal advice of a human rights lawyer, they have managed to get the prosecution to reverse its decision. For the lawyer, The accusation was «clearly defective», since the «religious institution of Islam» is not a «person» for the purposes of the Public Order Act..
Political demands to reintroduce the crime of blasphemy
Blasphemy was abolished as a common law offence in England and Wales in 2008. However, MP Tahir Ali asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer that it commit to introducing measures to prohibit the desecration of all religious texts and prophets of the Abrahamic religions«.
For the time being, it has not been dropped, but the charge initially brought by the prosecution would have the same effect. The amendment still leaves the door open to punishing offences against religion, although the penalty is much lighter.
The new accusation
In the face of criticism and the NSS lawyer's actions, The prosecution admitted the error and has reformulated the charges.. He is now accused of a public order offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act.
This article criminalises who uses words, behaviours or visual displays that are threatening, abusive or disorderly. The prosecution added that the man's behaviour was motivated by hostility towards a religious group. The penalty can include a maximum fine of £2,500. According to The Telegraph, It is believed to be the first time that someone has been charged with this type of offence for harassing an «institution» such as Islam..
On 13 February 2025, Hamit Coşkun, a 50-year-old man originally from Derby (United Kingdom), burned a copy of the Qur'an in front of the Turkish consulate in London.
According to his statement, l‘The act was intended as a protest against the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom it accuses of turning Turkey into a «centre for radical Islamists.». He also said that the action was a gesture of solidarity with Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee who was murdered in Sweden after publicly burning several copies of the Qur'an.
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