Updated on
Summary Thousands protested in Cairo to express displeasure at the verdict in the Mubarak trial.
Thousands took to the scene of so many protests in Cairo to voice their displeasure at the verdict in the Mubarak trial on Saturday.Rather than a healing experience that many Egyptians wanted, many saw the trial that acquitted top security officials as showing how much of Mubaraks old order was still in place.A revolution is by definition toppling the entire former regime, metaphorically, a total cleansing, if you do not throw all of the corrupt in the sea, then you have not made a revolution, said one protester in Tahrir Square.Mubarak, toppled by an uprising last year after 30 years ruling Egypt, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday for his role in killing protesters after a trial that sets a precedent for holding Middle East autocrats to account.But it was not enough for thousands of Egyptians who poured onto the streets afterwards in a nation already on edge before a deciding presidential vote in two weeks. Some wanted Mubarak executed, others feared the judges ruling exposed weaknesses in the case that could let the ex-military strongman off on appeal.Where is justice? We have great respect for the judges of Egypt, but where is justice? said another protester in Tahrir Square.Wearing dark glasses, the 84-year-old Mubarak was wheeled into a courtroom cage on a hospital stretcher to join co-defendants including his two sons Alaa and Gamal, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six security officials.Addressing the hushed courtroom, Judge Ahmed Refaat said: The court has ordered a punishment for Hosni Mubarak of life in prison based on charges of participating in crimes of killing and attempted killing.Propped up on the stretcher and stony-faced during the verdict, the only words the former air force commander uttered were to acknowledge to the judge over a microphone that he was present before the ruling was read out. Afterwards, he was whisked off by helicopter to a prison hospital.His two sons, businessman Alaa, and Gamal, a former banker was once seen as being groomed for president before his father was toppled on Feb. 11, 2011, had corruption charges quashed, but stay in jail over another case referred to court last week.Refaat sentenced Adli, whose police force was hated for the brutal tactics used against the revolt, to life in prison. About 850 people were killed in the 18-day uprising against Mubarak.But the judge acquitted the senior security officials for lack of evidence, a decision that worried lawyers for victims families who said that could help Mubarak win any appeal.Businessman and Mubarak ally Hussein Salem, being tried in absentia, was also acquitted of corruption charges.It was the first time an ousted Arab leader had faced an ordinary court in person since a wave of uprisings shook the Arab world last year, sweeping away four entrenched rulers.
