Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Cairo University, waving pictures of Mubarak behind bars and demanding the “fall of the regime”, the rallying cry of the Arab Spring uprisings that shook governments across the Middle East three years ago.
Police stood ready at the gates to bar students who sought to take their demonstration onto the streets.
On Saturday, an Egyptian court dropped its case against Mubarak over the killing of protesters in the uprising that ended his 30-year rule. The ruling was seen by activists as the latest sign that the rights won during the revolt are being eroded.
Two people were killed and nine were wounded on Saturday evening when security forces fired teargas and birdshot to disperse about 1,000 protesters who attempted to enter Tahrir Square – the symbolic heart of the 2011 revolt. Security forces reportedly closed a Cairo metro station in an apparent effort to prevent other gatherings. Clashes also erupted at Zagazig University in the Nile Delta, and the state-owned al-Ahram newspaper said 11 students were detained after setting fire to a building.
Mubarak’s deposition led to Egypt’s first free election. But the winner, Mohamed Morsi, was removed from power last year by Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, another military officer, who went on to win a presidential vote in May. Egyptian authorities have since jailed Morsi and thousands of his supporters within the Muslim Brotherhood, sentencing hundreds to death in mass trials that drew international criticism.
By contrast, Mubarak-era figures have been released and new laws curtailing political freedom have been passed, raising fears among activists that the old leadership is back.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a leading rights group, said: “The verdict [on Mubarak] further reinforces concerns about the alarmingly selective justice system in Egypt, which appears more intent on settling political scores and punishing dissent than establishing justice.”
“Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with every Mubarak, down with military rule,” was the declaration on one Facebook page that called for protests against the ruling.
The verdict has prompted a deluge of online cartoons about the return of the old guard. One animated video begins with a group of Mubarak-era politicians in a darkened cell facing an array of charges. One by one, they are released and end up celebrating their freedom with their former president, singing: “Yes, we are back.”
On Saturday, the judge, Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidi, said the dismissal of the charges did not absolve Mubarak of the corruption and “feebleness” of the latter years of his 29-year rule. He praised the 2011 uprising, saying that its goals of freedom, bread and social justice were legitimate. He also said Mubarak, like any other human, erred at times, and suggested that his old age should have spared him a criminal trial.
“To rule for or against him after he has become old will be left to history and the judge of judges [God] … who will question him about his rule,” the judge said.
Original Article
Source: theguardian.com/
Author: Agencies in Cairo
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