Angry protests are breaking out across Cairo Saturday after judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak and Habib al-Adly, his interior minister, to life in prison on charges of killing protesters during last year's 18-day uprising. Although the two received the maximum prison sentence under Egyptian law, six of Adly's top deputies were allowed to walk free. Outside of the Police Academy in the Fifth Settlement on the eastern outskirts of Cairo, where the trial was held, families of the revolution's martyrs clashed with Mubarak supporters. Riot police beat protesters from both sides. Four people were arrested at the clashes, Al Jazeera reported. Many of the martyrs' families were disappointed with what they perceived as a light sentence for the former president. The judge had the option to hand down a death sentence. More than 800 people were killed by security forces during the uprising that lead to Mubarak's resignation on 11 February last year. "[Mubarak] has to die just like my son did,” said Sanaa Saeed, whose son Moez al-Sayed was shot in Tahrir Square during the protests. “We need execution. They will let him escape. There is no justice in this country." Mostafa Mohamed Morsy, whose son Mohamed was killed during the uprising, promised to continue the revolution until Mubarak is executed. "They are fooling us," he said. Meanwhile, protesters are already assembling in downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution. “It's theater, theater!” the protesters chanted. They are demanding the death penalty for Mubarak, Adly and the senior Interior Ministry officers who were acquitted. The protesters closed the Qasr al-Nil Bridge and Qasr al-Ainy Street, both of which lead into the square. In nearby Talaat Harb Square, scores of protesters are chanting “Death to the feloul [remnants of Mubarak's regime].” Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, is one of two candidates in the presidential runoff on 16 and 17 June. More protests are expected later in the day.
