Store owner faces criminal charges for selling Egyptian flag shoes

Sayed al-Sewerky, the owner of the department store franchise Al-Tawheed wal Nour, was referred to the Cairo Misdemeanor Court on Thursday for selling shoes emblazoned with the Egyptian flag, in violation of a law passed in May prohibiting the “desecration of the flag.”

Sewerky faces a maximum penalty of a year in prison and an LE30,000 fine. The first hearing is scheduled for January 12, according to the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (AMAY).

An unnamed person filed a complaint against the chain three months ago after buying the shoes in question, said AMAY. The prosecution then launched an investigation into the allegations, which showed that Sewerky negotiated with a Chinese manufacturer to import the shoes in “flagrant violation” of Law 41/2014 criminalizing insults against the Egyptian flag.

The law was passed by former President Adly Mansour at the end of his year in office.

This is the first time such charges have been taken to court. A suit was also filed against the Armenian belly dancer Safinaz for wearing a dance costume with an Egyptian flag design, but she has not yet been referred to trial.

In addition to prohibiting the use of the flag in logos, the law mandates that the Egyptian flag be raised at all educational institutions under state jurisdiction, and that schools play the national anthem every morning, during which all in attendance are required to stand.

Local media and a significant portion of the population have been swept up by fervent nationalism since former President Mohamed Morsi was ousted from power last July. After a wave of terrorist attacks and the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood group as a terrorist organization that represents a threat to national security, a spate of new laws were issued to safeguard against potential domestic and foreign threats.