AhlulBayt News Agency

source : AFP
Saturday

3 March 2012

9:48:00 AM
300262

Egypt court clears tycoon of Islam insult

A Cairo court on Saturday dismissed a complaint against Christian tycoon Naguib Sawaris accused of insulting Islam with a cartoon of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in conservative Muslim garb, Egypt's state media reported.

A Cairo court on Saturday dismissed a complaint against Christian tycoon Naguib Sawaris accused of insulting Islam with a cartoon of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in conservative Muslim garb, Egypt's state media reported.

The complaint against the head of Orascom Telecom was filed by hardline Islamist lawyer and MP Mamduh Ismail, who said he would appeal the decision.

Sawiris, also the founder of a liberal party, had reposted on Twitter a cartoon of Mickey Mouse wearing a beard and turban and Minnie Mouse in a niqab, the face veil worn by ultra-conservative Muslim women.

The cartoon was a joking reference to what would happen should Islamists, who now control parliament, take over Egypt, but Sawiris was forced to apologise after calls for a boycott of his cell phone service provider Mobinil.

The official MENA news agency said the Cairo misdemeanour court "rejected the complaint," without giving any grounds for the decision. Ismail told AFP he would "appeal" the decision.

Last week, another court dismissed a similar complaint against Sawaris, saying the plaintiff had no legal standing to petition the court.

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