Fifteen crew members from the sunken South Korean ferry pleaded their case at a district court in South Korea on Tuesday, while the families of the hundreds of people who died in the disaster protested outside.

Kim Byung-kwon, the representative of the families of the victims, called for the death penalty for the crew of the Sewol.

The Captain (Lee Joon-seok) and three other crew members are charged with homicide - a charge that could carry the death penalty, though South Korea has not

executed anyone since late 1997.

Prosecutors accuse them of tacitly colluding to abandon the ship while being aware that the passengers would be trapped and killed when the ship sank.

All surviving crew members responsible for the ship's navigation have been charged with negligence and with failing to do their duty to protect passengers.

The captain's lawyer said the factors that caused the sinking couldn't be controlled by a captain who operated the ferry only six days a month as a contract worker.

The lawyer said the captain didn't flee the ship, tried to correct the ferry's balance and asked people to wear life vests, even though he was injured.

Members of the crew have claimed that after evacuating the ship they stayed with the Coast Guard and helped to rescue the passengers.

Nearly two months after the sinking, 292 bodies have been recovered and 12 people are still missing.

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1. Relatives of victims of Sewol ferry disaster protesting outside Gwangju District Court, where ferry crew are having a preliminary hearing, police guard the court

2. Relatives sitting on road during protest

3. Relatives holding placards reading (Korean) "Our children wait for you murderers," and "Our children's souls are watching you"

4. Various of representative of Sewol victims' families Kim Byung-kwon chanting (Korean) "Come out if you are not ashamed, come out"

5. Kim speaking to media outside court

6. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Byung-kwon, representative of Sewol victims' families:

"If they do not get the death penalty, it would be nonsense that they can walk freely in our country. They do not deserve to walk freely in our country."

7. Gwangju Regional Court Judge and spokesman Hahn Jee-hyung walking in to news briefing

8. Wide of conference room

9. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Hahn Jee-hyung, Gwangju District Court Judge and spokesman:

"Generally there were assertions that the crew members did not have the intention to murder or to escape. In the case of the Captain (Lee Joon-seok), he claims he announced the order to abandon the ship before he got out of the ferry. As for the accused (crew members) Park and Oh, they said they tried to open up the life boat on board the ship and after getting out of the ferry they had been helping with the rescue of passengers along with the Coast Guard."

10. Cutaway of journalists

11. Wide of conference room

Students who survived South Korea's Sewol ferry disaster were continuing their witness testimonies on Tuesday at the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Court.

On Monday students had testified that they were repeatedly ordered by loudspeaker to stay in the sinking ship, but eventually helped each other flee after their cabins flooded.

The six girls spoke at a court session for 15 crew members responsible for the ship's navigation who face charges of negligence and failing to perform their duties to rescue passengers, with four of them facing homicide charges.

The students from Danwon High School near Seoul revealed how chaotic the scene on the ferry was, saying they wore life jackets and were helped by friends to float out and leave flooded rooms.

One of them said she saw some schoolmates swept away by the waters.

The April 16 sinking left more than 300 people dead or missing, most of them Danwon students who were travelling to the southern island of Jeju for a school trip.

A total of 325 Danwon students were aboard the ship but only 75 survived, according to local officials.

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1. Bus carrying Danwon High School students pulling up to Ansan Branch Court for the second day of testimony in the Sewol ferry disaster trial

2. Students getting off of bus

3. Police officers secure the path as students enter court

4. Students getting off bus

5. Police in front of court entrance

6. Doors to court closing

7. Sign that reads (Korean) "Court"

8. Exterior of Ansan court