Prosecutors have demanded the death sentence for former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on charges of killing thousands of protestors during the uprising against his 30-year rule in the country.
Mustafa Khater, one of the prosecution team members, also demanded the death sentence for Mubarak's security chief and four top police commanders, who are currently undergoing trial in the same case.
"Retribution is the solution. Any fair judge must issue a death sentence for these defendants," the Wall Street Journal quoted Khater as saying.
"We feel the spirits of the martyrs flying over this hall of sacred justice, and those who lost their sight by the bullets of the defendants are stumbling around it to reach the judge and demand fair retribution from those who attacked them," he added.
Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, are facing corruption charges in the same trial, along with two police commanders who have been charged with gross negligence.
Chief Prosecutor Mustafa Suleiman held Mubarak "politically and legally" responsible for the mass killings in Egypt and pointed out that he took no action to halt the killings though he was aware of them.
He said Mubarak's security chief and co-defendant, former interior minister Habib el-Adly, authorised the use of ammunition to target protestors on orders from Mubarak.
"He (Mubarak) can never, as the top official, claim that he did not know what was going on. He is responsible for what happened and must bear the legal and political responsibility for what happened. It is irrational and illogical to assume that he did not know that protesters were being targeted," he said.
