Reuters /London

 

 

Mohamed Haque (left) and Emdadur Choudhury arrive after the lunch break at Belmarsh Magistrates Court, in London yesterday

Two men who set fire to remembrance poppies on the anniversary of Armistice Day and shouted “British soldiers burn in Hell” during the two-minute silence went far beyond the boundaries of legitimate protest, a court heard yesterday.

Mohamed Haque, 30, and Emdadur Choudhury, 26, are accused of jointly carrying out the burning of three oversized plastic poppies in a way that was likely to cause “harassment, harm or distress” to those who witnessed it.

Haque and Choudhury, both from east London, plead not guilty to one count each under the Public Order Act.

The alleged offence took place on November 11 last year as rival demonstrations took place at Kensington Gore near the Albert Hall in central London, the Press Association reported.

During the day, members of the English Defence League (EDL) had been exchanging angry outbursts with representatives of Muslims Against Crusades (MAC).

One witness, the grandson of a World War II soldier, told Belmarsh magistrates he felt “sick inside” as the poppies burned.

Tony Kibble said: “They (The MAC) carried on shouting throughout the two-minute silence. Half way through, I looked up to see what was going on around and I saw a ball of fire fall to the ground. Literally, my stomach turned over.”

Video footage of the incident was shown to the magistrates, who were sitting at Woolwich Crown Court.  In it, a leader of the MAC can be heard to say “the two minutes have started” before leading a series of anti-British chants. Around 20 men at the demonstration joined in with shouts of:

“Burn, burn British soldiers, British soldiers burn in Hell.”

Video footage of the incident showed Choudhury set fire to several plastic poppies towards the end of the two minutes, according to the prosecution.