U.S. might grant Hamit Coskun refugee standing after London Quran burning

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The Trump administration is weighing involvement within the case of a protester who was fined for burning a Quran outdoors the Turkish Consulate in London, as U.Ok. prosecutors look to reinstate his overturned conviction, in keeping with stories.

Officers are stated to be discussing granting 51-year-old Hamit Coskun refugee standing if the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) wins its enchantment, with a senior U.S. administration official telling The Telegraph the case is one in every of a number of "the administration has made observe of."

Coskun, of Armenian-Kurdish descent, had initially sought asylum within the U.Ok. from Turkey, the place he says Islamic extremists "destroyed" his household’s life and the place he was jailed for protesting Islamist governance.

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Hamit Coskun has stated he might "flee" to America if the Crown Prosecution Service succeeds in its Excessive Court docket problem. (Aaron Chown/PA Photographs by way of Getty Photographs)

On Feb. 13, 2025, he traveled to the Turkish Consulate in London and set fireplace to a replica of the Quran whereas shouting slogans together with "Islam is [the] faith of terrorism" and "f--- Islam."

There he was attacked by Moussa Kadri, a passerby who chased him with a knife, kicked him and spat on him.

Kadri later obtained a suspended jail sentence after being convicted of assault and having a bladed article in a public place.

Initially charged with harassing the " religious institution of Islam ," Coskun’s case drew intervention from the Nationwide Secular Society and the Free Speech Union, who argued prosecutors had been successfully reviving blasphemy legal guidelines already abolished in 2008.

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Coskun was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offense and fined in June 2025.

That October, Coskun’s conviction was overturned when a decide dominated that whereas burning a Quran was "desperately upsetting and offensive" to many Muslims, the precise to free expression "should embody the precise to precise views that offend, shock or disturb."

The CPS is now seeking to reverse that decision at London's Excessive Court docket, with Coskun telling The Telegraph that if the enchantment goes towards him, he could also be compelled "to flee" the nation.

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On the 2025 Munich Safety Convention, Vice President JD Vance stated "in Britain and throughout Europe, free speech, I worry, is in retreat." (Matthias Schrader/AP Photograph)

"For me, because the sufferer of Islamic terrorism, I can not stay silent. I could also be compelled to flee the UK and transfer to the USA, the place President Trump has stood totally free speech and towards Islamic extremism," he instructed the outlet.

"If I've to take action, then, to me, the UK may have successfully fallen to Islamism and the speech codes that it needs to impose on the non-Muslim world," he added.

President Donald Trump and the U.S. administration have already criticized the U.Ok. and European governments over elevated restrictions on expression.

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In 2025, Trump slammed the U.Ok.'s legal guidelines round on-line speech, saying "unusual issues are taking place" there and that it was "not a superb factor."

On the Munich Safety Convention in 2025, Vice President JD Vance additionally stated, "In Britain and throughout Europe, free speech , I worry, is in retreat."

Fox Information Digital has reached out to the Division of State for remark.

Emma Bussey is a breaking information author for Fox Information Digital. Earlier than becoming a member of Fox, she labored at The Telegraph with the U.S. in a single day group, throughout desks together with overseas, politics, information, sport and tradition.