CAIRO
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi refused on Sunday to comment on a Saturday court verdict dropping charges against ex-president Hosni Mubarak that he had incited the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 uprising.
"In accordance with the Egyptian constitution, which has granted full independence to the judiciary, the [presidency] will not comment on legal verdicts issued by courts," the presidency said in a statement.
"Egypt will not go backward after two revolutions," the statement quoted al-Sisi as saying in his first reaction to the court ruling.
On Saturday, a criminal court dropped charges against Mubarak, his interior minister and several Interior Ministry officials that they had conspired to kill protesters during the 2011 revolution that brought Mubarak's autocracy to an end.
The presidency said in the statement that al-Sisi had ordered the cabinet to reconsider Egypt's Criminal Law, a move recommended by the Mubarak trial judge on Saturday.
"The President also ordered the cabinet to reconsider compensation for the families of the dead victims of the revolution and its injured victims," the presidency said.
Earlier on Sunday, al-Sisi met with Justice Minister Mahfouz Saber and Transitional Justice Minister Ibrahim al-Heneidi to discuss proposed amendments to the Criminal Law, presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said.
The ruling has triggered violent reactions in Cairo and the other provinces with some of the relatives of the dead victims of the revolution taking to the streets to demand justice for their sons and daughters.
Two people were killed late on Saturday during a protest near central Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Mubarak and his interior minister were sentenced to 25 years in prison in late 2012 for ordering the murder of demonstrators during the 2011 uprising.
The court later, however, ordered a retrial after the former president's lawyers successfully appealed the sentence.
Saturday's verdict is still subject to appeal.
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