A police force has been accused of endangering a man who burned a Quran by publishing his name and address on social media despite the current risks faced by people who criticise Islam. The Telegraph has more.
Martin Frost, 47, admitted a religiously aggravated public order offence after being filmed tearing pages from the Islamic holy book and setting them alight in Manchester on Saturday.
Greater Manchester Police included his name, date of birth and the borough where he lives in a post on X announcing he had been charged.
#CHARGED | Martin Frost (10/03/1977) from Trafford has been charged with causing racially & religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm, distress
He's been remanded in custody & will appear at Manchester Magistrates Court today (03/02/25)
Free speech campaigners warned the case could lead to blasphemy laws being “reintroduced by the back door” and leave Frost at risk of retaliation.
In a letter to the force on Tuesday night, the Free Speech Union (FSU) said other, similar protests have provoked violent retribution.
Lord Young, the FSU’s General Secretary, said in the letter that this “should never have been a police matter” and claimed that by naming Frost so publicly the force “may well have placed him in great jeopardy”.
Stephen Evans, the Chief Executive of the National Secular Society, told the Telegraph the “conviction of a man for burning a Koran brings us perilously close to reinstating blasphemy laws”, while Tim Dieppe, Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern, claimed police are “enforcing Sharia law on Britain’s streets”.
Mr Evans added that public order laws should be reviewed, saying: “If laws designed to maintain peace and safety are being used to punish individuals for offending religious feelings, then blasphemy laws have been reintroduced by the back door.”
Frost, from Stretford, Trafford, was bailed on Monday after pleading guilty to a single charge of racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, toward a passer-by, Fahad Iqbal, who tried to intervene in the incident.
Frost was in custody when Greater Manchester Police posted his details on X. The first line of his address was withheld by the force but released later that day in court.
On Monday, Manchester magistrates’ court heard he had told officers he was protesting in solidarity with Salwan Momika, an anti-Islam activist who was shot dead in Sweden last week.
The court was told how he had publicised the event online beforehand and that it was live-streamed on social media.
Robin Lynch, prosecuting, told the court a crowd of supporters had gathered near the Glade of Light memorial to the 22 victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, last Saturday afternoon when Frost began tearing out pages of the Koran.
Mr Lynch said Mr Iqbal tried to intervene, but Frost shouted: “This is what I think of your Koran. Islam has no place in civil society.”
He said Frost ripped out pages, saying they “talk about paedophilia”, before setting one alight. He then threw the book in the river nearby before being arrested.
In his victim impact statement, Mr Iqbal said: “I was quite shocked, disgusted and offended. I’m a Muslim. I still can’t believe someone would do this. When he began to burn the Koran my heart was about to break out. This is the most emotion I have ever felt.”
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