A man who burned a Koran will not face charges, in what has been deemed a victory for free speech.
Dheyaa, a Christian whose full name has been withheld due to threats against his life, has had charges against him dropped, after he was reportedly arrested on suspicion of inciting religious hatred.
He arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker fleeing religious persecution but was arrested for uploading a video of himself burning a copy of the religious text as a stand for freedom of speech and against Islamic extremism.
The Free Speech Union celebrated charges being dropped, saying: “West Yorkshire Police’s decision to take no further action thus tacitly reaffirms the principle that symbolic political protests must never be criminalised simply because they offend or disturb.”
The man will not face charges despite burning a Koran (stock pic)
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Dr Frederick Attenborough, Executive Communications and Research Officer for the FSU, said: “He was treated as a hate-crime suspect and subjected to extraordinary bail conditions which gagged him from discussing religion on social media.”
The FSU said they “intervened immediately, challenging these Orwellian bail conditions.”
Following these interventions, Dheyaa was informed that he would not face any charges.
Whilst the FSU have celebrated this as “great news”, they maintain that he should “never have faced arrest in the first place”.
The Koran is Islam’s Holy Book
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Although blasphemy laws were abolished in England in 2008, Dr Attenborough said: “Police tried to criminalise Dheyaa’s protest under the Public Order Act 1986.
“Sections 4A and 5 of this Act ban threatening or abusive behaviour intended or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
“Prosecutors often add a religious dimension under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, making such charges potentially even more severe if hostility towards a religious group can be demonstrated.”
However, Dr Attenborough challenged that “causing offence is not a crime.”
The Free Speech Union said they “intervened immediately, challenging these Orwellian bail conditions”
FREE SPEECH UNION
He said: “Under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998), provocative political expression, however uncomfortable or distasteful some find it, may not be suppressed without clear evidence of incitement to violence or genuine threat to public safety.”
The FSU emphasised the significance of charges against Dheyaa being dropped because he had received threats against his life “due to his vocal opposition to Islamic extremism”.
However, they suggested that this case is representative of a wider trend in which: “Authorities are increasingly misusing public order laws to clamp down on provocative speech, especially when it involves the desecration of religious texts.”
Dr. Attenborough concluded: “Without increased public vigilance, arrests and prosecutions like theirs risk becoming commonplace, slipping through the net due to lack of legal representation and gradually undermining Britain’s tradition of robust, open debate.”