Outside the police academy that used to bear his name, supporters and opponents of the former president gathered to hear the verdict - separated by police and a few layers of barricades. Hawkers stood on the sidelines offering Mubarak memorabilia.

The Mubarak faithful held aloft portraits of their former leader, calling for him to be acquitted. The former president, who had been brought in on a stretcher as usual, allowed himself a slight smile. Supporters hugged each other and danced in the streets. One woman told us it was the best moment of her life. "We always knew he was innocent," she said.

A short distance away bereaved relatives held photos of loved ones killed by the security forces during the revolution of 2011. Several of them had been demanding Mubarak's execution. When they heard the news, huddled around a car radio, one man collapsed, and started banging his head with his hands.

Almost four years after Hosni Mubarak was swept from power, many Egyptians have lost interest in the fate of their former leader.

The verdict means no-one has been held responsible for the killing of more than 800 protesters during the 2011 revolution. It is as if the dead committed mass suicide, said one Egyptian journalist on Twitter.

Relatives of those killed in 2011 had awaited Saturday's verdict with trepidation.

Mahmoud Ibrahim Ali, whose wife was killed, had little faith in the judiciary, believing it simply did the government's bidding.

"The regime is the same," he told AP news agency. "Names have changed but everything is the same.''

Mubarak's elected successor, President Mohammed Morsi, lasted only a year in power before being ousted by the military in July 2013 during mass anti-government protests.

Army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was subsequently elected in his place and under his rule, TV stations and newspapers have largely dropped criticism of the Mubarak era, correspondents say.