The Bulaq Misdemeanour Court has announced that the trial of business tycoon Naguib Sawiris will begin on 14 January.

Sawiris is accused of contempt of religion after he published a controversial cartoon of Mickey Mouse sporting a beard and Minnie Mouse wearing a niqab.

He will be tried in the North Cairo Court in Abbassiya.

The Prosecution Office of Central Cairo decided to refer the case to court on Monday after investigating a complaint, filed against Sawiris by lawyer Mamdouh Ismail, accusing the Coptic Christian businessman and politician of disrespecting Islam after he posted the cartoons on his official Twitter account in June 2011.

Sawiris is the founder of the liberal Free Egyptians Party and emerged after the revolution as one of the top political figures in Egypt.