A man who was fined for burning a copy of the Koran while shouting 'f*** Islam' has launched an appeal against his conviction. Hamit Coskun has argued that his actions are protected under the right of free speech.The 50-year-old Turkish-born atheist also shouted comments such as 'Islam is the religion of terrorism' as he staged his protest outside the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge.He claims his burning of Islam's holy book was to highlight how Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's constitutionally secular government had become an 'Islamist regime'.During the protest in February he was attacked by a knifeman and has since been assaulted near his home.In June, Mr Coskun was found guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court of a religiously aggravated public order offence and fined £240.This week he will appeal his conviction with the help of the National Secular Society and membership organisation the Free Speech Union.The NSS says it is defending the 'right to offend', describing the conviction as a 'troubling repurposing of the public order act into a form of modern blasphemy law'. Hamit Coskun (pictured) was found guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court of a religiously aggravated public order offence and fined £240 after he burned a Koran During the protest Mr Coskun was attacked by a knifeman. The attacker, Moussa Kadri, 59, was given a suspended sentence, last monthA spokesperson for the organisation says during the hearing, which will take place at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Coskun will argue the conviction is a disproportionate interference with his right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights.National Secular Society chief executive Stephen Evans said: 'We're supporting Hamit Coskun's appeal not to endorse his actions, but to defend a vital principle - that free speech must include the right to offend.'Coskun's conviction repurposes public order laws in order to punish offensive expression - using them in a way that goes far beyond what Parliament ever intended, and which risks transforming them into a form of modern blasphemy law.'Coskun's peaceful protest caused no harm, yet he was convicted because others chose to react with violence. We believe this judgment sets the bar far too low for when the state can interfere with the right to free expression.. If we allow offence - or the threat of violence - to determine the limits of expression, we hand extremists a veto over free speech itself.'The court heard at the hearing that on February 13 Mr Coskun travelled from his home in Derby to London and positioned himself outside the Turkish Consulate in Rutland Gardens in Knightsbridge.Once there he set light to a copy of the Koran which he had purchased for that purpose, and held the burning book aloft and shouted 'Islam is the religion of terrorists' and 'The Koran is burning'.During Mr Coskun's protest a man who emerged from a nearby building slashed at him with a bread knife, later telling police he was protecting his religion, Southwark Crown Court heard.The attacker, Moussa Kadri, 59, was given a suspended sentence, last month. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr Coskun claims his burning of Islam's holy book was to highlight how Erdogan's constitutionally secular government had become an 'Islamist regime'In his sentencing remarks, District Judge John McGarva said a man came out from an adjacent property and told him he was a 'f**king idiot' and the defendant responded 'f**k you' repeatedly, as well as 'f**k Islam'.He told the police that he had decided to burn the Koran because he had studied it extensively and that it incited people to terrorism and encourages the beheading of non-believer, the judge said.Mr Coskun said he was an atheist, did not have a problem with Muslims, but 'he is unhappy that Islam is spread by violence', the judge said.Speaking ahead of the appeal, the National Secular Society said Mr Coskun says his 'symbolic, non-violent expression of dissent' was motivated by concerns about increasing theocracy in Turkey.They say his protest was directed against the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for policies which he said are turning Turkey into a 'base for radical Islamists'.Mr Coskun, who is Kurdish and Armenian, is also appealing the finding that his actions were 'religiously aggravated'.He argues his conduct was not directed towards at any person or people, but towards religious and political institutions.The NSS says it works for the 'separation of religion and state and equal respect for everyone's human rights so that no one is either advantaged or disadvantaged on account of their beliefs'.Before his conviction in June, Mr Coskun - who came to the UK three years ago as an asylum seeker - told the Daily Mail he would have never came to Britain had he known 'this country does not have free speech'.'I would never have come if I knew criticising Islam would attract attention and risk. Radical Islamists do not exist in Turkey – they exist in the UK,' he added.