NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Trump administration is weighing involvement in the case of a protester who was fined for burning a Quran outside the Turkish Consulate in London, as U.K. prosecutors look to reinstate his overturned conviction, according to reports.<\/p>\n Officials are said to be discussing granting 51-year-old Hamit Coskun refugee status if the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) wins its appeal, with a senior U.S. administration official telling The Telegraph<\/a> the case is one of several “the administration has made note of.”<\/p>\n Coskun, of Armenian-Kurdish descent, had initially sought asylum in the U.K. from Turkey, where he says Islamic extremists<\/a> “destroyed” his family\u2019s life and where he was jailed for protesting Islamist governance.<\/p>\n DAN GAINOR: ENGLAND DOESN\u2019T HAVE FREE SPEECH AND WANTS TO TAKE OURS AWAY, TOO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Hamit Coskun has said he may “flee” to America if the Crown Prosecution Service succeeds in its High Court challenge.<\/span> (Aaron Chown\/PA Images via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Feb. 13, 2025, he traveled to the Turkish Consulate in London and set fire to a copy of the Quran while shouting slogans including “Islam is [the] religion of terrorism” and “f— Islam.”<\/p>\n There he was attacked by Moussa Kadri, a passerby who chased him with a knife, kicked him and spat on him.<\/p>\n Kadri later received a suspended prison sentence after being convicted of assault and having a bladed article in a public place.<\/p>\n Initially charged with harassing the “religious institution of Islam<\/a>,” Coskun\u2019s case drew intervention from the National Secular Society and the Free Speech Union, who argued prosecutors were effectively reviving blasphemy laws already abolished in 2008.<\/p>\n MARCO RUBIO VOICES CONCERN THAT AMERICANS MAY SOMEDAY BE ARRESTED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WHEN VISITING EUROPE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Coskun was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offense<\/a> and fined in June 2025.<\/p>\n That October, Coskun\u2019s conviction was overturned <\/a>when a judge ruled that while burning a Quran was “desperately upsetting and offensive” to many Muslims, the right to free expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.”<\/p>\n The CPS is now seeking to reverse that decision<\/a> at London’s High Court, with Coskun telling The Telegraph that if the appeal goes against him, he may be forced “to flee” the country.<\/p>\n IRISH COMEDIAN SAYS UK PM STARMER HIDES FROM CULTURE WARS AS ‘ORDINARY PEOPLE’ FIGHT DAILY BATTLES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n At the 2025 Munich Security Conference, Vice President JD Vance said “in Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”<\/span> (Matthias Schrader\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “For me, as the victim of Islamic terrorism, I cannot remain silent. I may be forced to flee the UK and move to the USA, where President Trump has stood for free speech and against Islamic extremism,” he told the outlet.<\/p>\n “If I have to do so, then, to me, the UK will have effectively fallen to Islamism and the speech codes that it wishes to impose on the non-Muslim world,” he added.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump<\/a> and the U.S. administration have already criticized the U.K. and European governments over increased restrictions on expression.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In 2025, Trump slammed the U.K.’s laws around online speech, saying “strange things are happening” there and that it was “not a good thing.”<\/p>\n At the Munich Security Conference in 2025, Vice President JD Vance<\/a> also said, “In Britain and across Europe, free speech<\/a>, I fear, is in retreat.”<\/p>\n Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of State for comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Hamit](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1200\/675\/hamit-coskun-westminster.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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