A female Christian evangelist in the UK was arrested and strip searched by police after speaking to a Muslim in a well-known free speech area, according to a press release from a legal advocacy group. Group reportedly won £10,000 in damages from police Christian concerns.
Hatun Tash, a former Muslim convert to Christianity, has been preaching the Bible and debating Muslims at Speaker's Corner in London's Hyde Park for more than a decade. According to a legal threat sent by Tash's lawyer to the Metropolitan Police Department after her arrest, on June 26, 2022, Tash was holding a camera in Speaker's Corner when a man ran up to her and stole her Koran. . Tash used a Quran with holes punched in it as a visual aid during his sermon.
Another man reportedly grabbed Tash's tripod and prevented her from chasing the thief. After Tash's friends called 911, police arrived, and more men chased her and attempted to assault her, shouting “Allah Akbar,” according to her lawyer's letter. people were forcibly removed from the area. An incident in 2022 was also captured. on video And it was recently released on YouTube.
Tash's belongings were allegedly left at the scene by police. Her lawyer argued that police violated her human rights by “unlawfully detaining” her for 15 hours, strip-searching her, taking her glasses and interrogating her in the middle of the night.
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Hatun Tash won a £10,000 settlement from the Metropolitan Police after being arrested and detained in June 2022. (Getty Images)
Police accused the Christian preacher of “criminal harm” caused by the Quran and “threatening, abusive or insulting language, behavior or display, even though the Quran belonged to her.” He was arrested on suspicion of “intending to incite racial hatred through the use of police,” the statement said. Her lawyer's letter said that because she was wearing a Charlie Hebdo T-shirt depicting the Prophet Muhammad, she was prohibited from writing anything threatening, abusive or insulting.
Ms Tash's lawyers argued that her rights to freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion were violated under Articles 9 and 10 of the European Covenant on Human Rights (ECHR). They asked for damages and legal costs for assault, false arrest, false imprisonment and harassment, as well as an apology and an agreement that police would “not continue to harass”.
According to reports, a settlement was recently reached. christian legal centerand the Metropolitan Police Department.
“The Metropolitan Police has reached a settlement in relation to a civil claim brought in relation to an arrest in 2022. We are not prepared to discuss further the details of the proposed claim or settlement,” a spokesperson for the Met said. told FOX News Digital.
Tash told Fox News Digital that this is not the first time he has experienced a similar incident with law enforcement at Speaker's Corner.
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London, UK – 24/10/2020: Protesters gather at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park before marching through the city. (Getty Images)
A former Muslim turned evangelist, he conducts a ministry of “defending Christ and criticizing Islam.” Her YouTube channel has over 690,000 subscribers, where she claims to support Christianity and oppose Islam.
But her boldness in sharing her faith made her a target for extremists. she was stabbed, terrorist target Conspiracy and has been wrongfully arrested multiple times in free speech forums over the past few years.
In her experience, she says, police were lenient with those who threatened her, which only emboldened more extremists to target her. Like others in the UK, she feels that a “two-tier” justice system is emerging in the UK.
“Once Muslims understand, okay, nothing is happening, [once] They overstepped the law and started coming as mobs. So, like a group of 10 people, 20 of them came and harassed me and stopped me from speaking so that I wouldn't take advantage of my free speech rights,” she told FOX. He told News Digital. If tensions escalate, I will be worried that the police will remove me or arrest me. Not one of these individuals was reprimanded or told to stop. The police's approach was that it would be easier to remove me so the Muslims could continue with their activities. ”
Hatun Tash was stabbed at Speaker's Corner on July 25, 2021. (Christian Concern/YouTube)
“It's not just Speaker's Corner. It happens in schools as well,” she explained of teachers. Who is reportedly still in hiding? After showing a caricature of Muhammad to the class in 2021.
Tash said she called police for help after people threatened her life, but her pleas for help were rejected by law enforcement. On one occasion, she claims, two men stalked her for hours, but the police refused to help her, saying they were “not bodyguards.”
“I had to leave the police station knowing that two men have been following me for the past two hours. I don't know what will happen. My phone is already broken. If you throw acid on me, and someone finds me, that's what I'll think.'' Will they recognize me in the morning? ” she said.
At this point, Tash said she felt like: ”It's like the police are more concerned about the feelings of Muslims than my rights or my life. ”
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A Muslim woman protests against cartoons of the Prophet that have already been published several times by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Rome, Italy, on October 30, 2020. (Photo credit: Sirio Tessitore/NurPhoto, Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Despite the circumstances, she remains determined to continue her mission.
“As long as the Lord gives me breath, I’m going to preach the gospel, even though there’s a lot of negativity going on, because that’s what I think. For me, the solution is Jesus. “I saw how Jesus Christ changed me. He will change these people,” she said.
Tash interacts with imams at mosques and says he has seen about 20 imams who have left Islam and become Christians, and about 1,000 Muslims in the UK. She says her ministry has discipled hundreds of people in Muslim-majority countries on her YouTube platform.
“We welcome discussion and debate,” she said. “Whether you want to be a Muslim or not, whether you want to be a Christian or not, you let people make their own choices. That's why I'm a person who has been in a privileged place.” I was able to see how my God intervened and changed and transformed my life, so in that sense I am very grateful to the Lord. ”
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The Metropolitan Police did not comment on Mr Tash's claims about dual policing when asked about the settlement by Fox News Digital.
