Protesters marching from mosques in Giza arrived in Tahrir Square on Friday afternoon carrying a 6-meter long banner bearing photos of the 25 January revolution martyrs.
The number of participants in the protest has reached the thousands, Al-Masry Al-Youm estimated.
Two marches, one from Istiqamah Mosque in Giza and one from Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen, had merged in Dokki.
Marchers carried banners with sarcastic statements, such as “Urgent: Mubarak acquitted in retrial.” They also chanted for the fall of military rule and handed out flyers criticizing Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister who will compete in the upcoming presidential runoff.
Earlier, dozens staged a march from Fatah Mosque in Ramses Square to Tahrir after Friday prayers to join a protest calling for the retrial of former regime members and the application of the Political Isolation Law, which would disqualify Shafiq from the election.
The marchers chanted, “The people want to apply the Political Isolation Law,” “Retribution, retribution, they shot our brothers,” and “The people want to execute the ousted president.” They called on onlookers and passersby to join them.
Another march departed from Giza's Istiqamah Mosque after Sheikh Mazhar Shahin delivered the Friday sermon to hundreds of protesters.
Shahin called on protesters to continue the demonstrations until the goals of the revolution are achieved. He said that the next week before the runoff vote is a critical period.
The sheikh also demanded a retrial for former President Mubarak and the former Interior Ministry officials who were on trial with him over protester deaths during the 25 January revolution. Six high-ranking security officials were acquitted of all charges, while Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly were sentence to life in prison.
Shahin said that the Egyptian people have gained nothing from the revolution over the last year and a half. He added that the people were waiting for fair trials that would bring justice to the revolution’s martyrs, but the trials so far have all been “disappointing.”
A march from Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen also set off toward Tahrir following prayers. Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr reported that protesters tore down posters of Shafiq on Ahmed Abdel Aziz Street and chanted, “Down with military rule.”
Protesters had begun to gather in Tahrir Square on Friday morning in anticipation of the protest. The protest had been called for by a number of political movements under the moniker “Determination Friday.”
The protesters raised banners reading, “The people want to execute Mubarak, the people want to execute the field marshal,” referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council.
Popular committees tasked with securing the protest closed entrances to the square from traffic using iron barricades and were checking the IDs of people entering the square.
Ambulances were stationed near Omar Makram Mosque and a field hospital was set up near the Mugamma building. Volunteers also cleaned the square.
A mock trial for former regime officials is planned for 5 pm in the square, followed by marches at 6 pm to the Supreme Constitutional Court to demand the dismissal of Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud and to the People’s Assembly.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
