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 Almost four years on, he says a court's decision to drop charges
against Mubarak over the killing of hundreds of demonstrators during
the Tahrir Square revolt has extinguished any hope that his
sacrifice would have a purpose.
"Our hope is only in God. Justice here is lost, justice is broken,"
he said.
Many Egyptians who lived through Mubarak's rule view it as a period
of autocracy and crony capitalism. His overthrow embodied the hopes
of the "Arab Spring" uprisings that shook autocrats from Tunisia to
the Gulf.
His possible release after criminal charges were dropped on a
technicality is seen by many as the latest in a series of steps to
wipe out gains made during 18 days of protest.
"What has changed? ... What is the difference between Egypt in 2014
and Egypt in 2009, before the revolution? Nothing," said Ahmed
Ezzedine, whose 21-year-old son was killed by gunfire at the time of
the protests in 2011. "If Hosni Mubarak and... the aides are innocent of these charges
against them, then who killed him? Will they say the Brotherhood did
it or that UFOs came from space and killed the Egyptian people and
flew away?"
 Mubarak's overthrow led to Egypt's first free elections. But the
winner, Mohamed Mursi, was ousted last year by then-army chief Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi following protests against his rule.
Sisi, who has since won a presidential election, cracked down hard
on Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood. Hundreds of Mursi's followers
were gunned down in the streets when police cleared protest camps in
Cairo last year. Authorities have jailed thousands of Brotherhood
supporters, sentencing hundreds to death in mass trials that have
drawn international criticism.
Secular activists, including some who opposed Brotherhood influence
and welcomed the army's intervention, now also find themselves on
the wrong side of Egypt's new rulers.
Dozens face trial for violating a protest law that was passed last
year and effectively prevents Egyptians from repeating the
millions-strong rallies that overcame decades of fear and helped
unseat two presidents in three years.
"The Mubarak verdict is... the strongest possible message from the
state that the revolution has been overturned," said
British-Egyptian filmmaker and activist Omar Robert Hamilton.
OLD FACES
Meanwhile, Mubarak-era figures are steadily being freed, while new
laws limit the scope for dissent. A draft law lists a litany of
offences from harming national unity to disrupting public order as
grounds to designate an organization as terrorist.
Another proposal curbs media coverage of the armed forces, the most
powerful force in a country ruled almost exclusively by military men
for the past six decades.
Since 2011, at least 10 Mubarak-era politicians, including his prime
minister Ahmed Nazif, have been freed from jail.
Several politicians who were in Mubarak's last cabinet returned
under Sisi.
They include Fayza Abul Naga, recently appointed Sisi's national
security adviser, who was a minister under Mubarak and the military
council that ruled in the immediate aftermath of the revolt, when
she spearheaded a crackdown on non-governmental organizations.
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Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb was a senior official in Mubarak's
now-defunct National Democratic Party. Mohamed Tohamy, a senior
security officer under Mubarak, is now intelligence chief. Yet
many Egyptians crave stability above all else. Exhausted by
seemingly endless turmoil that has battered the economy, many no
longer care what happens to Mubarak.
Egyptian media has echoed those sentiments. Some channels even
suggest that it was Islamists who killed the protesters, though the
Brotherhood was part of the opposition at the time.
Stuck in traffic caused by the closure of Tahrir Square the day
after two people were killed in protests against the Mubarak
verdict, one taxi driver remarked: "Yes, he stole, but Mubarak is
gone and we need Sisi, we need stability. We need to look forward.
We can't keep looking back."
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
The government has declined to comment on the verdict but Sisi has
ordered a review of compensation for victims.
Though it disappointed victims and dissidents, the Mubarak ruling
came as little surprise. Activists said they had always wanted
Mubarak to be tried in a special court rather than by a judiciary
that they say is not equipped to hold to account leaders who
embodied the system for so long.
Saturday's ruling is open to appeal which means Mubarak could be
retried for a third and final time. Khaled Dawoud, spokesman for the opposition Destour Party, said new
charges were being drafted to ensure Mubarak faces justice.
"We have very little hope... but we have no option except to keep
pressing," he said. "Without justice there cannot be stability."
Ezzedine, the father of the dead son, said the powerful and rich
ruling class saw no need for justice for those who died in 2011.
"Because they are killing the poor, it's no problem. Like they are
just a few... animals," he says. "Egypt is 90 million people so if
500 or 600 or 1000 die then it is not important."
(Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Editing by Peter Graff)
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