Egyptian Billionaire Sued over Mickey Mouse Tweet Insulting to Islam

The affair started when Telecom Tycoon Naguib Sawiris tweeted a picture of a bearded Mickey Mouse and a veiled Minnie back in June.

Now the businessman who also co-founded the Egyptian liberal party, The Free Egyptians, could now be in trouble.

The move had provoked anger, with some Islamic clerics even calling for the politician to be killed.

Soon after the Tweet, Sawiris posted an apology, writing: "I apologize for any who don't take this as a joke. I just thought it was a funny picture. No disrespect meant!"

The controversy however refuses to die down and according to the Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, owned by Sawiris, he is now being taken to court.

Ultra-conservative groups first staged a boycott campaign against the Coptic Egyptian but they have reportedly also filed a complaint against him.

"On 25 June, Mamdouh Ismail, the lawyer for Jama'a al-Islamiya, and 14 other lawyers filed a suit over the incident, accusing Sawiris of intentionally ridiculing Islamic icons and attire."

According to the paper, Ismail accused Sawiris of openly rejecting Article 2 of the constitution,"which states that Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic is its language, and Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation."

In July, Mohamed Morsy, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, described Sawiri as "a corrupt icon from the former regime."

The businessman however responded to his critics in August, accusing Islamists of "hijacking the 25 January revolution".

Tensions are further set to grow as his political part just announced it will boycott elections to the upper house following "hundreds" of violations by the leading Islamists parties.