A man has been arrested in Manchester on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after allegedly burning pages of the Quran in an act live-streamed on social media, raising fresh concerns about the rise of de facto blasphemy laws across Europe.
Footage posted on X shows a man standing in the Glade of Light – the memorial commemorating victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing – near Victoria Station. He is then seen setting fire to pages of the Islamic holy book, while another man approaches and attempts to snatch it from his hands.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed that a 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. He remains in custody for questioning.
Assistant Chief Constable Stephanie Parker said: “We understand the deep concern this will cause within some of our diverse communities and are aware of a live video circulating.”
She added: “We made a swift arrest at the time and recognise the right people have for freedom of expression, but when this crosses into intimidation to cause harm or distress we will always look to take action when it is reported to us.”
Posts accompanying the video on X claim the act was carried out “in solidarity” with Salwan Momika, an Iraqi-born activist who became the centre of a major diplomatic crisis after publicly burning copies of the Quran in Sweden.
Momika, who sought asylum in Sweden, set fire to a Quran outside Stockholm Central Mosque in 2023, triggering protests across the Middle East and beyond. His actions led to violent demonstrations, diplomatic protests, and Sweden tightening its laws on public desecration of religious texts. Last week, Momika was shot dead in his Stockholm apartment with Swedish police describing his killing as a targeted attack, though their investigation remains ongoing.
The arrest of a man in Manchester for allegedly burning the Quran comes amid a broader trend in Western democracies, where acts deemed blasphemous are increasingly subject to legal restrictions.
Sweden and Denmark, once known for their strong protections for free expression, have moved to curtail Quran-burning protests following security concerns, and diplomatic pressure from Muslim countries. Denmark has now passed legislation criminalising the public desecration of religious texts, including the Quran, punishable by up to two years in prison, while Sweden is considering new legal measures to restrict protests involving religious texts if they pose a “national security risk”.
These moves follow lobbying from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has long sought international restrictions on the “defamation” of Islam. In bowing to violence and diplomatic coercion, Denmark and Sweden risk setting a perilous precedent, allowing religious extremists to establish the notion that, even in liberal democracies, religions and their followers should receive special legal protection that outweighs individual freedoms.
Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008, reinforcing the principle that religious beliefs should not receive special legal protection from criticism. While the Public Order Act 1986 makes it an offence to use threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour intended to stir up religious hatred, Section 29J – which was introduced precisely to prevent the reintroduction of blasphemy laws in another form – explicitly protects expressions of criticism, antipathy, ridicule, and even insult toward religions and their adherents.
Yet despite these safeguards, recent cases suggest a shift toward indirect enforcement of blasphemy restrictions via public order, hate crime, and incitement laws. In this case, Greater Manchester Police have arrested the man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence. This charge originates under the Public Order Act 1986 – most likely under Section 4A or Section 5 – but is treated as “racially or religiously aggravated” under Section 31 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which increases the penalty where hostility toward a racial or religious group is demonstrated or presumed.
A pattern is beginning to emerge. In Sweden, Salwan Momika faced legal proceedings for Quran-burning protests before he was shot dead last week in Stockholm, while far-Right politician Rasmus Paludan was recently sentenced to four months in prison for hate crimes related to burning the Quran during protests in Malmö in 2022. These cases, along with the recent arrest in Manchester, raise serious concerns about the extent to which legal mechanisms are now being used to suppress religiously offensive, but lawful, forms of expression.
Book burnings are crude, deliberately provocative, and a poor substitute for reasoned debate. But as Jacob Mchangama points out for Unherd, “when conducted by private individuals, they serve as non-violent symbolic expressions intended to convey a message – the essence of free expression”. Given the UK’s legal protections for free expression, the arrest in Manchester raises a difficult question: Are we witnessing the quiet return of blasphemy laws, this time under the banner of public order and hate crime legislation?
