Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.

An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.

A SELF-DESCRIBED ACTIVIST charged over the arson of a mosque in Dublin has told a court he left Iran a decade ago to escape torture and hanging for rejecting Islam.

Saeid Khosroabadi (41) of Seville Place, Dublin 1, was arrested following a blaze at the doorway of the Faizan E Madinah Mosque on Talbot Street, in the north inner city, just before 3.30pm on 29 June.

It is alleged the Iranian national, who calls himself an anti-Islam activist, told gardaí he was opposed to sharia law in Ireland and did not care if children died in the fire.

Khosroabadi is charged with committing arson, causing criminal damage at the mosque.

The offence, on conviction, is punishable by a 10-year sentence.

Bail was denied on 1 July, when he was remanded in custody, and he appeared again at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday.

The case was adjourned until next week for prosecutors to serve him with a book of evidence.

The accused had no legal representation due to ongoing industrial action, in which solicitors have withdrawn services in a row over changes to fees for District Court legal aid cases.

Just before he was remanded in continuing custody, he told Judge Patricia Cronin he wished to address the court. He said, via video link, that he was from an Islamic country and had been tortured because “all my life, I said no”.

“I did not accept Islam; I said Islam is not my religion; they wanted to hang me, the radical Islamic religion of Iran. I escaped in 2016, from prison to start a new life,” he said.

Judge Cronin, noting he had no legal representation, cautioned him about the risk of self-incrimination.

He then changed subject and raised an issue already raised previously: his inability to contact his family in his homeland, who do not know he is in custody in Ireland.

Gardaí have retained his phone as an exhibit. However, Garda Shane Costello told Judge Cronin he had not been able to recover their numbers, but he would make further efforts.

It had already been held that the case should be transferred to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers. Prosecutors must serve him with a book of evidence before the granting of a return for trial order.

He will appear again on 12 August next.

A bail hearing five weeks ago was told that during the course of his garda interview, Khosroabadi stated he was “disappointed” that the mosque had not burned down.

Khosroabadi is claimed to have told gardaí that he hated Islam and called its followers “dirty people”.

Emergency services, including over 20 firefighters, four engines, and gardaí, responded after thick smoke engulfed the street.

The premises were safely evacuated with no reported injuries.

Garda Costello told the bail hearing that Khosroabadi’s reply to the charge was “I tried to set a mosque on fire, that is what I did, yes”.

Garda Costello had objected to bail, fearing the accused would go to the mosque and “attempt to attack it or the people inside again”.

He had alleged that Khosroabadi, who claimed he was drunk that day, filled up a litre bottle with petrol at a local garage and went to the area.

Garda Costello said witnesses reported that a male had poured an accelerant on the front door of the mosque and set it alight.

The officer described the area as very busy. A witness allegedly heard the same man shout, “I will finish this mosque; I will fire this mosque. I don’t like them to be here.”

Several people, including children, were present inside the mosque when the blaze broke out.

Following enquiries, gardaí arrested the accused at his flat, and he allegedly said, “I hate Islam. I burned the mosque, and when you release me, I will burn it again”.

To embed this post, copy the code below on your site