ADDIS ABABA, April 5 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian Court has sentenced to death five top military officers of former Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam, for air raids that killed hundreds in an open market in 1980.

The state-run Ethiopian News Agency on Saturday said the five officers were sentenced for the raid at Hawzen, along with five others given life sentences and four given terms of 19 years. All were tried and sentenced in absentia.

Ethiopian Air Force officers were accused of bombing Hawzen in the northern Tigray region, killing hundreds of civilians on a market day on June 23, 1980, prosecutors said.

Ethiopia has been trying former official of Mengistu's regime for the past 14 years for horrific killings carried out under his rule.

Most are in exile after rebels including the current prime minister, Meles Zenawi, overthrew him in 1991. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe, where he lives in luxury under the protection of President Robert Mugabe.

The same court in January 2007 sentenced Mengistu to life in prison for killings thousands of people during his 17-year rule which included famine, war and purges including the "Red Terror" slaughter of suspected opponents.

Prosecutors have said his sentence was not commensurate with his crime and appealed for a death sentence in May. The court is expected to hear the appeal this year, but Mengistu is not likely to face justice. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Bryson Hull and Matthew Jones)