Egypt’s ex-President Hosni Mubarak denied charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters, on the opening day of his trial in Cairo.
He was wheeled on a hospital bed into a cage in court to the astonishment of onlookers outside, correspondents say.
The 83-year-old was being tried with his sons, who also denied charges against them, ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six other former officials.
Mubarak was forced from office by mass demonstrations in February.
The charge of ordering the killing of protesters carries the death penalty.
Some 3 000 soldiers and police were drafted in to maintain order at the police academy for the first day of the trial of Mubarak and his sons, which was adjourned until August 15.
The trial of al-Adly and the six other security officials is due to resume on Thursday.
Up until the last moment there was doubt whether Mubarak would actually appear in the court, correspondents say.
His defence team claimed he was seriously ill and there had been speculation they might negotiate for him to remain in the hospital wing of the police academy while the proceedings took place in the courtroom.
But Mubarak was wheeled into the cage from where he observed proceedings with the other defendants, including his two sons Alaa and Gamal.
Judge Ahmed Rifaat opened the session by asking for order, saying: “The civilised Egyptian people require calm . . . to make sure that the mission of the court is carried out fully so we can please God almighty and our consciences.”
Despite that, the court session was at times unruly, with lawyers jostling and clamouring to be heard by the judge.
Judge Rifaat is a respected jurist seen as independent of the former regime, said state newspaper al-Ahram.
The charges against the Mubaraks were read out, and Hosni Mubarak and his sons each denied them.
“Yes, I am here,” the former president said, raising his hand slightly when the judge asked him to identify himself and enter a plea. “I deny all these accusations completely.”
Everybody was in shock as the trial began, said the BBC’s Jon Leyne, in Cairo, because this was the moment that no-one in Egypt – maybe all of the Middle East – expected to see.
There was amazement and silence from the people gathered outside as they watched a screen broadcasting proceedings, our correspondent adds.
“I am delighted that I see them in a cage. I feel that my son’s soul is finally starting to be at rest and that his blood will cool,” Saeeda Hassan Abdul Raouf, the mother of a 22-year-old protester who was among those killed in the uprising, told the Associated Press outside the trial venue.
One of the protest leaders, film-maker Ahmed Rasheed, told the BBC that across Cairo people had gathered around television screens in shops and cafes, watching and arguing as the trial was being broadcast. (BBC)
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