KORAN-BURNING PROTESTER BLASTS COURT AFTER ‘SHOCKING’ CONVICTION: ‘IT WAS TO RAISE AWARENESS’

The man found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence has said he was not expecting a guilty verdict.

Speaking exclusively to Patrick Christys on GB News, Hamit Coskun said:

“To be honest, this was not a decision I was expecting. I was found guilty. I don’t think there’s a legal standing for this verdict.

“What I did was only use my freedom of expression. Freedom of demonstration is a democratic right, and you do it in the street.

“I got caught in the moment and used a swear word. And the fact that I shouted that the Koran must be banned and also Islam is a terror religion; at the time I defended this in court and I am still defending this.

“I’ve been studying the Koran for 25 years. I’ve been studying the paragraphs, the rules and everything.

“The slogans I’m shouting are not random sentences I’m making up. I’m an atheist, I’m an Islam critic, and I’m an activist and I’ve been fighting for 25 years now.

“Because of the recent developments in Turkey and the fact that the country is going more and more towards Islamic propaganda, it pushed me. It caused me to have impulses against these impacts, and I got really emotive about this.

“The people I’m criticising are the radical Islamists, and I’m aware that it would upset them. For years, I was against ripping up the Koran or tearing the pages.

“But because it’s been spreading everywhere, the radical Islamists and the Islamic propaganda, I decided to protest, demonstrate on the streets, and burn the Koran.

“I’ve been writing and expressing my opinions for years, but now, to be able to make a bigger impact, I decided this would be the right action.

“I’m not criticising Muslims. I’m criticising the religion Islam itself. I’m trying to raise awareness about the effects of the Koran.

“There’s a big problem around the radical Islamists. I believe it is a huge problem that should be addressed in these countries. One of the arguments the prosecution brought up in the courtroom was instead of criticising the religion itself I targeted Muslims and used statements like saying, ‘they’re spreading around the world.’

“I’m still saying my opinion but my target is not the Muslims. It’s a fact about the Koran, Islam, the religion itself.

“I’m an activist, I’m an artist, and I’m a critic of Islam. I’ve been fighting for this for years, all my life. I intend to continue my fight. But it might not be burning the Koran. It might be protests on the street. For example, it could be writing down these certain paragraphs from the Koran that promote violence and terrorism and holding those papers to use my right to protest.

“Hundreds of death threats have been targeted towards me, especially on my social media pages. I received death threats from areas like Birmingham and London. They sent me messages saying they’ll find where I am and they’ll cut my throat. That is the truth of Islam.
“I told the police about the messages, and my lawyer submitted one of the messages to the court in London after I burned the Koran, two guys found me in my apartment, and they showed me the video of me burning the Koran, and they attacked me. One of them had a knife and the other had a glass ashtray.
“They showed the video to me, and they told me, one day I’ll die because of doing this, just wait for the day you are going to die.
“I went to my room, I called the police, and they came and arrested two guys. The next day they were released. I’m not sure what happened to them in the end.
“ I don’t understand this because I was in custody two times, and each times between 20 and 24 hours, and also my bail conditions were really strict.
“I had to go to the police station to sign in and could not go further than the train station. This means that even without the court giving a verdict, I was kind of punished.
“Since my arrest, I’ve faced serious disappointments, especially the fact that I was prosecuted and the outcome of my prosecution, as well as the tolerance for the attacks I’ve been faced with as if they’re trying to punish me and protect the Islamists.
“I don’t think other religions are in the same position to create any kind of threat against civilisation, against humanity and against democracy.”
With a message to Sir Keir Starmer, he said:
“They’re trying to please that part of the community, and they’re trying to enforce the blasphemy laws. The democracy of Great Britain is under serious threat, and people, just because they pose opinions on social media, are arrested and they’re attacked.

“The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer should not make any compromises so that he can protect or please this part of the community.

“Why only be sensitive to Islamists? There are groups of minorities like Jewish people, they have to hide their identity before they go on the streets. If they disclose their identity, they’re attacked by the Islamists.”