Spanish war criminal faces 9138-year jail term

Spanish prosecutors have asked for a jail term of 9138 years for a former Argentine Navy officer accused of genocide, terrorism and other crimes during his country's "dirty war" in the 1970s and 80s.

Adolpho Scilingo faces 30 counts of genocide, 30 of murder, 93 of physical injury and 255 of terrorism.

Under Spanish law, the maximum time a person can serve is for 40 years and only in cases of terrorism. The country has no death penalty or life imprisonment, but courts routinely hand down sentences of hundreds or even thousands of years against convicted members of the Basque separatist group ETA.