Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's condition has deteriorated so much that doctors at the Cairo prison where he is serving a life sentence had to constantly administer oxygen to him overnight, security officials said Thursday.
The officials at Cairo's Tora prison told The Associated Press that the 84-year-old Mubarak is suffering breathing problems, high blood pressure and depression.
They added that Mubarak did not speak to his doctors or anyone else, except for a few words to his son and one-time heir apparent Gamal, who is being held in the same prison and was at his father's side.
The officials said Mubarak was given oxygen throughout the night and until Thursday morning.
Security officials say Mubarak's health has deteriorated sharply since Saturday, when he and his ex-security chief were sentenced to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of protesters during the uprising that toppled him last year.
Mubarak had been held in military hospitals from his arrest in April last year up until his sentencing. He did not want to go to the Tora prison hospital after the sentencing Saturday, pleading with his escort to take him back to the military hospital east of Cairo where he had stayed in a suite since his trial began in August. Before that, he was held in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt’s chief prosecutor has appealed the life sentence handed down to Mubarak, saying he should be sentenced to death for killing demonstrators.
The appeal automatically included asking for a new verdict for Mubarak’s two sons and six security officers who were acquitted.
The life sentence handed triggered mass protests by tens of thousands of Egyptians who wanted nothing less than the death penalty.