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January 6, 2012

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Death sentence demanded for ousted Mubarak

THE prosecutor in the trial of Hosni Mubarak yesterday demanded the death penalty for the ousted Egyptian leader on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising against his rule.

Mustafa Khater, one of a five-member prosecution team, also asked the judge for the death sentence for Mubarak's security chief and six top police commanders being tried in the same case.

"Retribution is the solution. Any fair judge must issue a death sentence for these defendants," said Khater on the third and final day of the prosecution's opening statement.

Mubarak's two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and Alaa, face corruption charges in the same trial along with their father and a close family friend who is a fugitive.

An 18-day uprising forced Mubarak, 83, to step down on February 11 after a nearly 30-year rule. The military, led by a general who served as defense minister under Mubarak for 20 years, replaced him in power.

Earlier in yesterday's hearing, chief prosecutor Mustafa Suleiman said Mubarak was "politically and legally" responsible for the killing of the protesters and charged that the former president did nothing to stop the killings that he was aware of from meetings with aides, regional TV channels and reports by his security agencies.

He said Mubarak's security chief and co-defendant, former interior minister Habib el-Adly, authorized the use of live ammunition on orders from Mubarak.

"He (Mubarak) can never, as the top official, claim that he did not know what was going on," Suleiman told the court. "He is responsible for what happened and must bear the legal and political responsibility for what happened."

Addressing Mubarak directly, Suleiman said, "If you had not issued these orders yourself, then where was your rage over the lives of your people?"

Testimonies by two interior ministers who succeeded el-Adly, he said, pointed out that the defendant could not have given the order to use live ammunition against protesters without Mubarak's personal approval, said Suleiman.

Another prosecutor, Wael Hussein, said that one of the six police commanders on trial, Hassan Abdel-Rahman, gave orders to allow thousands of inmates to escape from jails during the uprising.




 

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