THE TELEGRAPH: State department in talks to allow Turkish man to flee Britain if acquittal is overturned
The Trump administration is in talks to accept a man who burnt a Koran as a refugee from Britain.
State department officials are preparing to help Hamit Coskun flee the UK if he loses a “blasphemy case” this week.
The potential intervention is likely to escalate transatlantic tensions over free speech, which critics have claimed is being eroded under Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
Mr Coskun overturned a conviction for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he burnt the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in London.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is contesting that decision at a hearing in the High Court on Tuesday. A senior US administration official said his case was “one of several cases the administration has made note of”.
Mr Coskun sought asylum in the UK from his home country of Turkey, saying Islamic terrorists had destroyed his family’s life. He told The Telegraph that, if he did lose his case, he may be forced “to flee” and seek protection in the US.
“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 said.
“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.” » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter. Connor Stringer, Washington Correspondent. Will Bolton Crime correspondent | Sunday, Fenruary 15, 2026
