CAIRO: Protests erupted at universities across Egypt on Sunday, condemning a court decision to drop criminal charges against Hosni Mubarak.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Cairo University, waving pictures of Mubarak behind bars and demanding the “fall of the regime.”

Police stood ready at the gates to bar students that sought to take their demonstration into the streets.

Two people were killed and nine were wounded on Saturday evening, when security forces fired tear gas and birdshot to disperse about 1,000 protesters who attempted to enter Tahrir Square. Police closed a Cairo metro station. Clashes also erupted at Zagazig University in the Nile Delta, and Al-Ahram said 11 students were detained after setting fire to a building.

“Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with every Mubarak, down with military rule” said one Facebook page that called for protests against the ruling.

The verdict has also prompted a deluge of online cartoons about the return of the old guard. One animated video begins with a group of Mubarak-era politicians in a darkened cell facing an array of charges. One by one they are released and end up celebrating their freedom with their ex-president, singing “yes, we are back.”

Mubarak could be released early after having served two-thirds of a corruption sentence and seeing murder charges dropped, his lawyer said.