UK judge convicts man over blasphemy

A Turkish-born man who desecrated the holy Quran in London was on Monday found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence, in a case taken up by free-speech campaigners.

Hamit Coskun, 50, shouted blasphemous remarks as he desecrated the holy Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London last February 13.

District Judge John McGarva at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court found Coskun guilty of using disorderly behaviour "within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress".

He was motivated by "hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam", said McGarva, who issued Coskun a £240 ($325) fine, with a statutory surcharge of £96.

"Your actions in burning the Koran where you did were highly provocative, and your actions were accompanied by bad language in some cases directed toward the religion and were motivated at least in part by hatred of followers of the religion," said the judge.

State prosecutors insisted Coskun was not being prosecuted for burning the book. AFP