Qasr El-Nil Misdemeanour Court in Cairo rejected on Tuesday a religious defamation lawsuit filed against telecommunications tycoon Naguib Sawiris, on the basis that the plaintiffs were ineligible.

A group of Egyptian citizens had attempted to file a lawsuit against him, accusing the public figure of disrespecting Islam, following his actions in June of last year, when the famously-outspoken Coptic Christian businessman posted a cartoon on his official Twitter account showing Mickey Mouse sporting a beard and Minnie Mouse wearing a niqab.

Sawiris is already involved in another lawsuit concerning the posted image, which caused uproar among conservative Muslims last summer. The ongoing lawsuit was filed against Sawiris by ultra-conservative Islamist lawyer and current MP Mamdouh Ismail, and is scheduled for a verdict on 3 March.