Egyptians were divided over the life sentence for Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, as demonstrations against the verdict continued on Sunday at Tahrir Square in central Cairo.

Egyptians demonstrated throughout the night in Cairo and other cities, enraged that a court had spared the deposed leader his life over the killing of protesters in the uprising that ended his three-decade rule, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, a few hundred protesters were still gathered on Sunday morning in Tahrir Square - focal point of the January 2011 uprising that ousted Mubarak - and said they would stay until those killed in the uprising were avenged.

"This was not a fair verdict, and there is mass rejection of the judge's ruling," one of the protesters, Amr Magdy, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Protesters chanted: "A farce, a farce, this trial is a farce" and "The people want execution of the murderer", The Associated Press reported.

In spite of the protest, some Egyptians saw the verdict as fair.

Mostafa, a 35-year-old Egyptian who has lived in Dubai for more than 10 years, told Xinhua News Agency that a life sentence is better than the death penalty, "because the latter would spark violence".

"I am also sure that this verdict shows that Egypt is on the way to a serious democracy where human rights are respected," he added.

"I think it is a fair decision. I respect the court, as the hearings were fair and transparent. Now that Mubarak will be brought to justice, my country can move ahead to a better future, God willing", Kiwan, a Coptic Christian who works for a consultancy firm, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

The 84-year-old Mubarak and his interior minister Habib al-Adly received a life sentence on Saturday for failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year's uprising, while six security chiefs facing the same charges were acquitted.

Corruption charges against Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, were dropped because a statute of limitations had expired, and the ousted leader was acquitted in one of the graft cases, according to Agence France-Presse.

Mubarak was ferried by helicopter from the police academy where the trial was held to the Torah prison in Cairo, where his sons and members of his government have been either serving prison sentences or held pending trials over a variety of corruption charges, AP said.

In spite of the new demonstrations, experts said the verdict is favorable to the situation in Egypt.

The verdict didn't cause mass revolts in Egypt, although there were small demonstrations in Tahrir Square, said Yin Gang, an expert on west Asian and northern African studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

If the punishment on Mubarak was too strict, his supporters may have started a new uprising, Yin said.

Gong Shaopeng, a professor with China Foreign Affairs University, said it's normal for people to hold different opinions on the verdict.

The verdict can pacify people's anger because Mubarak will spend the rest of his life behind bars, Gong said.

Mubarak was sentenced a few weeks before the second round of presidential voting on June 16 and 17 between Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister of Mubarak's government, and Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood.

zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn