The mother of Khaled Said prays by his grave on second anniversary of his death (Reuters)

Dozens of protesters remained in Cairo's Tahrir Square following mass demonstrations against the old regime while others headed to Alexandria to mark the anniversary of the death of Kahled Said, whose death at the hands of the police has become an icon of the protest movement in Egypt.

Protesters were holding mass demonstrations against the verdict in the murder trial of former president Hosni Mubarak and the demonstrations spread as protests coincided with the second anniversary of Said's death.

Said, born in 1982, died after he was beaten to death by two plainclothes police officers in an internet café in Alexandria.

He was attacked after posting videos that exposed police corruption online.

The young activist was beaten up in the streets in full view of witnesses. The owner of the café testified that officers started beating him up as they tried to pull him from the cafe.

"They dragged him to the adjacent building and banged his head against an iron door, the steps of the staircase and walls of the building.Two doctors happened to be there and tried to revive him but [the police] continued beating him. They continued to beat him even when he was dead," the café owner told the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights.

Witnessed said the officers carried his lifeless body to a police car but came back to the scene of the crime a few minutes later and dumped his body in the street.

Within minutes pictures of his body were posted online, provoking shock and anger among Egyptians.

More than 1,000 people gathered for his funeral and protests were organised. The police autopsy said he died of asphyxia after swallowing a wrap of hashish.

Said became a symbol of police repression but also epitomises the continuing impunity of the security forces in Egypt.

Protesters were this week angered after six security chiefs were acquitted of the killings of demonstrators during the 2011 uprising that left 850 people dead.

Mubarak and his minister of interior Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life in prison. Activists had called for the death penalty.

Just three days after his sentence, reports suggested Mubarak's health had rapidly deteriorated. Doctors said he was suffering from a nervous breakdown, depression, high blood pressure and difficulties with breathing.

Human rights Egypt