Cairo: Egypt braced for a huge turnout of protesters yesterday after growing frustration with the country's transitional leadership intensified this week.
The acquittal of three former ministers charged with corruption along with the release of several police officers accused of killing protesters triggered a series of riots that turned up the heat on Egypt's leaders this week.
In a bid to defuse rising anger, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that hundreds of high-ranking police officers would be sacked for their role in the harsh crackdown on anti-government protests earlier this year that left hundreds of people dead.
Interior Minister Mansour Al Essawi said in a statement that it will be the largest shake up in the history of his ministry.
The acquittals succeeded in validating claims by revolutionaries that Egypt's military rulers have dragged their feet on bringing officials from the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak to justice, say analysts.
"Many Egyptians feel increasingly confused and angry at the same time over the faltering trials of key figures of the Mubarak regime," Hani Sadek, a professor of political science at the Suez Canal University told Gulf News.
Judicial decisions
More than 20 political parties and groups have said that they will participate in the one million-person march dubbed the Friday of Determination — the Poor First in Al Tahrir Square. Tahrir Square was the epicentre for protests that forced Mubarak to step down last February after nearly 30 years in power.
"They say that the judiciary is independent, but with due respect to the judiciary, where is this independence when members of the former regime are declared innocent one after the other?" said Injy Hamdi, a media coordinator of the protest April 6 group.
At least 846 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured in the 18-day uprising against Mubarak, according to a fact-finding commission.
Mubarak, who has been in detention since last April in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al Shaikh, is due to be put on trial on August 3 on charges of corruption, power abuse and involvement in the deadly crackdown on protesters.
