Dozens of April 6 Youth Movement activists protested outside the Giza Security Directorate at dawn on Thursday to mark the third anniversary of Khaled Said's killing by police.

The protesters chanted, "The police are thugs" and "My name is Khaled Said," and held banners condemning police repression of political activists, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Khaled Said, 28, was beaten to death by police officers in Alexandria on 6 June 2010. A photograph of him lying on the autopsy table, face mutilated beyond recognition, went viral online and helped spark the January 25 Revolution which brought down autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

Three years on Said's family are back where they started in 2010.

Two police officers, Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Ismail Soliman, sentenced in October 2011 to seven years in jail for Said's manslaughter are now free, after they appealed against the "harsh" verdict. The retrial begins next month.