Cairo, Egypt - In one of the biggest celebrations since the 'Friday of Victory' on 18 February, marking the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians Friday 'dragged' the ousted leader to the 'peoples' court at the Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, in a mock trial designed to push the military to conduct an official trial. Friday's symbolic trial was for Mubarak and his allies, accused of 'ruining the political life in the country, killing protesters during the 25 January revolution, and stealing public fortunes'. During the mock trial, the crowd held banners calling for an immediate official trial of the ousted president and his top officials, especially his interior minister, Habib Al-Adly, for 'crimes' committed and financial corruption allegations they faced during Mubarak's 30-year tenure. After listening to public testimonies, including those from families of the hundreds of revolution martyrs, the peoples court decided to adjourn verdict to next Friday, with expectations pointing to maximum punishments.

The demonstrators, meanwhile, have threatened to 'crawl' to Sharm Al-Sheikh, where Mubarak is under house arrest and refusing to appear before courts under the pretext that he is ill.

The demonstrators want to see Mubarak, his family and several members of his ousted regime, who are still walking the streets free, to be immediately brought to trial by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in charge of the country's affairs since his overthrow on 11 February.

The Army has pledged that no one will escape justice, but the people want quicker action against Mubarak.

Among other things, the demonstrators have asked for the immediate sacking of all governors who served with the previous regime, the dissolution of municipalities, and serious dialogue on laws shaping the political and economic future of the country.

They emphasized that any discussion of key topics like the restructuring of workers' salaries and the sensitive issue of minimum wage limits had to involve all forces of society, especially the youth.

Pana 10/04/2011