Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak pleaded not guilty of abuse of office, corruption and ordering the killing of protesters during February's uprising in a trial in Cairo on Wednesday.
"I completely deny all those charges," Mubarak said.
His two sons, Gamal and Alaa, who have been tried together with their father, also pleaded not guilty.
The 83-year-old former Egyptian addressed a Cairo court from a stretcher as a crowd consisting of opposition activists and his supporters gathered outside court, in the southeastern outskirts of Cairo, scuffling sporadically and throwing stones at each other.
The trial is seen by many Egyptians as a test of the military government's commitment to democratic reforms in the aftermath of the uprising that ended Mubarak's 29-year-old rule.
The court session, which marked Mubarak’s first public appearance since he was toppled in the popular uprising, was broadcast live by the state TV channel.
Mubarak's lawyer, Farid el-Deeb, made several requests to the court on Wednesday, including a call for the head of Egypt’s transitional military council, Gen. Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, to act as a witness in the trial. He also requested more than 1,600 other people to be summoned to the court to give testimony.
Along with Mubarak and his sons, former interior minister Habib El-Adly and other Mubarak-era officials are also facing charges.
El-Adly’s lawyer denied the former interior minister's involvement in the killing of some 850 protesters on Cairo's Tahrir Square. "The defendant has nothing to do with these incidents," he said.
Some 9,000 police officers were deployed at the Police Academy where the court session was held to ensure security during the trial.
