Thousands of Egyptians rallied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. (File photo)
Thousands of Egyptians converged on Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday in what organizers called a “second revolution” to push for faster reforms and a speedy trial for former president Hosni Mubarak and his former aides.
Activists complain of delays in putting Mr. Mubarak, his family and members of his ousted regime on trial and that the army has not restored order quickly enough to the country of 82 million.
Egyptians are also demanding an end to endemic graft, one of the main grievances that drove thousands of protesters onto the streets in the uprising that began on January 25.
“After some 1,000 martyrs … people do not see any change,” said Mustafa Ali Menshawi, a 38-year-old accountant, who was helping marshal crowds flooding into the square, according to Reuters.
“The only change we see is that the Mubarak metro station has been changed to the Martyrs station,” he said.
In a move seen as aimed at appeasing protesters, authorities on Tuesday ordered Mr. Mubarak to stand trial on charges of graft and “pre-meditated killing” of protesters during the uprising that ousted him on February 11.
If convicted, Mubarak could face the death penalty.
The ruling military council withdrew the army from near the protests and has ordered security forces to stay away.
Tahrir Square, the center of 18 days of protests that forced Mr. Mubarak to step down in February, was decked with Egyptian flags and placards demanding that officials who worked under the former 83-year-old president and squandered state funds be investigated.
“We want to dissolve all local councils that are famous for being the most and worst corrupted institutions during Mubarak’s regime,” said Mohammed Adel, of the April 6 Youth group, which is participating in Friday’s protest.
“We also ask that all political powers get involved in the drafting of important political laws,” Adel told Reuters.
Thousands of people were protesting in Egypt’s coastal city of Alexandria, north of Cairo.
Hundreds of Egyptians, meanwhile, protested outside the hospital where Mr. Mubarak is being held in Sharm al-Sheikh, demanding his transfer to prison, an Agence-France Presse reporter said.
“Prison, prison for Mubarak and Suzanne,” the demonstrators chanted in reference to the former president and his wife.
Mr. Mubarak is currently in custody in hospital as the authorities mull his transfer to prison.
But residents of the Red Sea resort, the tourism Mecca of Egypt, are eager to see Mr. Mubarak out in order to revive business which has been practically paralyzed since the uprising broke out on January 25.
The veteran leader, who ruled Egypt for three decades, was hospitalized in mid-April after reportedly suffering a heart attack during questioning.
Several former regime officials are already facing trial for corruption or violence during the revolt.
Mubarak’s wife Suzanne was released this month after she returned assets to the government. She is suspected of corruption.
However, some Egyptians expressed opposition to the protests, saying military rulers needed time to sort things out. A few hundred gathered in Cairo’s al-Hussein area to express support for Egypt’s military rulers, chanting: “For the sake of our country, we want to be ruled by the army.”
Some political parties, including Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood group, said no protests were needed and warned they could lead to confrontations between the army and demonstrators.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in a Facebook message posted on Thursday, called on protesters to exercise caution on Friday, saying there were “suspicious elements trying to take actions that would sow strife between Egypt’s people and the military.”
(Abeer Tayel, an editor at Al Arabiya, can be reached at: abeer.tayel@mbc.net)
source : alarabiya
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