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| Egyptians hold demos after Mubarak verdict |
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Many wanted death for Mubarak, who was handed a life prison sentence on Saturday, Reuters reported.
They saw the sentence and the acquittal of senior police officers as proof that the old regime still wields influence and feared Mubarak could now be acquitted on appeal.
Some demanded that the country's presidential election be cancelled.
Thousands of people poured onto the streets on Saturday after the verdict. By Sunday morning, a few thousands were still gathered in Tahrir Square -- focal point of the January 2011 uprising that brought down the longtime U.S. ally -- and said they would stay until those killed in the uprising were avenged.
"This was not a fair verdict and there is mass rejection of the judge's ruling," said one protester, Amr Magdy. "Tahrir will fill up again with protesters. In Egypt the only way you can get any justice is by protesting because all the institutions are still controlled by Mubarak figures."
The long-awaited Mubarak verdict deepened fear among many pro-democracy campaigners that recent developments are reversing Egypt's emergence from decades of autocratic rule.
Chanting slogans late on Sunday, the demonstrators demanded the execution of the former ruler for his complicity in the killing of pro-democracy protesters during the country’s revolution last year.
The demonstrators were outraged at the ruling generals after Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib al-Adli, were sentenced to life in prison for the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the revolution while six police chiefs were acquitted of wrongdoing.
The verdict sparked fierce clashes between the families of the victims and security officials inside the court as angry spectators called the court illegitimate and demanded that Mubarak be executed.
“The people demand to topple the regime!” the protesters chanted in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, referring to the junta, which took power after Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011.
“I want to say that we want to maintain security over our country, we need to be free, we need a president to protect us,” a protester stated.
On Saturday, thousands of people also protested against the verdict in Alexandria and several other Egyptian cities.
A protester in Alexandria said, "All the Egyptian people are angry with today's verdict. Mubarak and his interior minister should have been hanged. This is very upsetting to the Egyptian people, upsetting to the protesters, and also upsetting for the people that are not protesting. This verdict is unfair."
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Cairo on Saturday, Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi urged Egyptians to continue the revolution.
Morsi, who will face former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in a run-off election on June 16 and 17, said the demonstrators are the only ones who can guarantee a free and fair election and the transfer of power from the ruling junta, which took power after Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.
"All of us, my brothers, must realize in this period that the continuation of the revolution, and the revolutionaries' staying put in their positions in the squares, is the only guarantee to achieve the goals," he stated.
Later in the day, Morsi issued a statement in which he called "on the great Egyptian people to continue their civilized, peaceful revolution to achieve their goals."
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.jpg "Egyptians protest against the Mubarak verdict in Cairo's Tahrir Square on June 2, 2012.")