A Christian street preacher was acquitted on 20 December of using ‘threatening and abusive language’ while preaching in Wood Green, London.
Pastor Oluwole Ilesanmi had been charged concerning a sermon preached in June, when a Muslim and two political activists pressed charges that he criticised the Qur’an. Although he was charged with an Islamophobic hate crime under the Public Order Act, the Crown Prosecution Service, having considered written representations from his legal team, decided to discontinue the charge prior to trial.
Pastor Oluwole had explained there was a connection between terrorism and what is written in the text of the Qur’an. A number of false allegations were made against the missionary in an effort to silence him. Two non-Muslim political activists approached and accused him of preaching lies and of being Islamophobic. He responded that the Bible speaks the only truth and that people need to give their lives to the Lord Jesus.
