Calm prevailed on Monday in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the Egyptian revolution, following two days of mass protests against the verdict in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Traffic at the square remained blocked for the third consecutive day. Barriers are still set up at the square entrances, and popular committees supervising the entrances are allowing few cars to pass.
A security source told state TV that the closure of the square led to traffic congestion in all downtown streets and those leading to Giza.
A court on Saturday sentenced Mubarak and ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly to 25 years in prison, but acquitted six security commanders over the killings of demonstrators during last year’s uprising, which left about 850 people dead.
The ruling sparked outrage across the country, with protesters who took to the streets, furious that no one had been found directly guilty of killing the protesters.
As usual, protesters and passers-by discussed the situation in Tahrir and what the next step should be. Protesters urged passers-by to join them to complete demands and goals of the revolution.
Despite high temperatures, protesters held banners in the square on Sunday and Monday listing their demands, such as suspending the presidential election, forming a presidential council of independents and candidates who did not make it to the election runoff, purging the media and judiciary of corruption, and forming revolutionary courts to publicly try Mubarak-regime figures.
