Prosecutors demand death penalty for Hosni Mubarak

DPA/Cairo

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is wheeled on a stretcher into court for his murder trial in Cairo yesterday

Prosecutors in Egypt yesterday demanded that former president Hosni Mubarak be executed for alleged involvement in killing hundreds of peaceful protesters during a revolt that led to his ousting from power in February. Presenting the case for the prosecution, Mustafa Sulaiman told the court that Mubarak, 83, was “directly responsible” for a deadly crackdown on protesters by police. “The defendant, Habib al-Adli (a former interior minister), would not have dared to order shooting a single bullet at demonstrators without instructions from Mubarak,” added Sulaiman. Mubarak, lying on a gurney inside bars, made no reaction to the prosecutor’s statement. Sulaiman also demanded the death penalty for al-Adli and six senior security aides facing the same charges. At least 846 people were killed during the protests, according to an independent commission. Yesterday’s hearing was the fourth since the trial resumed on Monday and the final session for prosecutors to present their arguments. Presiding Judge Ahmed Refaat adjourned the hearings until Monday, when arguments from lawyers for the defendants and those for families of the victims will be heard. Mubarak, along with his sons - Alaa and Gamal - is also charged with corruption and wasting public funds. Meanwhile, an activist group said yesterday that Egypt has freed on bail four activists arrested earlier this week for putting up posters critical of the ruling military council amid voting for the country’s first free parliament in decades. The military council, in power since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011, has drawn growing criticism from the US and human rights groups over its crackdown on critics in the aftermath of the uprising. The four activists were members of an offshoot of the April 6 youth movement that helped mobilise the revolt against Mubarak and has since been campaigning for a return to civilian rule. They were detained on Tuesday while hanging up posters comparing heroic images of soldiers after the 1973 war with Israel with pictures of troops beating women in Cairo during protests last month, according to a member of the group. The April 6 movement said the four were released by the investigating judge pending charges of distributing flyers without a license and undermining public security. The judge dropped charges against the activists of insulting the army and trying to overthrow the ruling order. The arrests came days after Egyptian authorities swooped on 17 non-governmental groups, which they said were part of an investigation into illegal funding of political activities. The US criticised the raid and hinted it could review the $1.3bn in annual military aid to Cairo if the crackdowns continue.