Egypt Businessman Faces Blasphemy Trial Over Mickey Mouse Cartoon
Naguib Sawiris (Photo: Twitter)
One of Egypt’s richest men is to face trial for blasphemy after tweeting cartoons of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing conservative Muslim attire.
Telecoms mogul and Coptic Christian Naguib Sawiris re-posted the images on Twitter last June.
The tweeted images showed Mickey Mouse wearing a traditional Islamic robe with a full beard, while Minnie Mouse is wearing a niqab — a full-face veil — with just her eyes showing.
Sawiris subsequently apologized on twitter, saying he meant no offense but a formal complaint against him has now been referred to court.
Tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and minority Christian community have worsened in recent months.
Anchor Marco Werman talks with correspondent Noel King in Cairo.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.