Christian businessman and founder of The Free Egyptians Party will face charges of disrespecting Islam for tweeting a controversial image of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing conservative Muslim attire.
The Prosecution Office of Central Cairo decided to refer outspoken billionaire Naguib Sawiris to court for contempt of religion on Monday after he published a contraversial cartoon online.
Islamist lawyer Mamdouh Ismail filed a complaint to the public prosecution office accusing the famously-outspoken Coptic Christian businessman and politician of disrespecting Islam after posting the offending image on his official Twitter account in June 2011. The illustration of Mickey Mouse supporting a beard and Minnie Mouse wearing a niqab caused uproar among conservative Muslims last summer.
The founder of The Free Egyptians Party removed the image shortly after receiving a deluge of complaints and apologised if it was misunderstood assuring his full respect for Islam and Muslims.
[Produced in partnership with Ahram Online.]
From Jadaliyya Editors:
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