Egyptian court rejects second of 2 lawsuits against Christian tycoon over blasphemy charges

ICC Note:
“An Egyptian court on Saturday rejected the second of two lawsuits brought by ultraconservative Islamists accusing a Christian media mogul of insulting Islam when he relayed a cartoon online of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie in a face veil,” AP reports.
3/3/2012 Egypt (AP) – An Egyptian court on Saturday rejected the second of two lawsuits brought by ultraconservative Islamists accusing a Christian media mogul of insulting Islam when he relayed a cartoon online of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie in a face veil.
The judge ruled the plaintiff was not eligible to file the religious defamation lawsuit and sent the case back to the state prosecutor’s office for further investigation. The first lawsuit against Sawiris was thrown out by a different court earlier this week on similar grounds.
Businessman Naguib Sawiris Saturday used his Twitter account — the same way he spread the original images — to express relief.
“I thank God for this ruling because I feel that there is still hope,” he wrote. “Congratulations to an open, free and smiling Egypt that respects all religions.”
Sawiris angered Muslim hard-liners in June by relaying the Mickey and Minnie cartoon, which parodied the growing influence of Islamists in Egypt. Sawiris tweeted an apology and removed the post after the uproar among conservatives, but that did not deter some from pursuing legal action.
The cases are two of many brought by conservative lawyers in recent months seeking to punish individuals they deem as having offended Islam. They highlight the newfound sense of empowerment among followers of the ultraconservative Salafi trend of Islam in Egypt since the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak last year in a popular uprising.
In the broad spectrum of Islamic thought, Salafism is very conservative and is partly inspired by Saudi Arabia’s puritanical Wahhabi interpretation of the religion.
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