TOKYO (AFP) – Three former executives from the operator of Japan’s tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant went on trial on Friday (June 30) over the worst atomic accident in a generation, the only people ever to face a criminal court in connection with…
TOKYO (AFP) – Three former executives from the operator of Japan’s tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant went on trial on Friday (June 30) over the worst atomic accident in a generation, the only people ever to face a criminal court in connection with the 2011 meltdowns that rendered swathes of countryside uninhabitable.
Ex-Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 77, and former vice presidents Sakae Muto, 66, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71, all pleaded not guilty on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, according to local media.
The indictments are the first – and only – criminal charges stemming from the tsunami-sparked reactor meltdowns at the plant that set off the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
If convicted, the men face up to five years in prison or a penalty of up to one million yen (S$12,000) .
“Since the accident, nobody has been held responsible nor has it been made clear why it happened, ” Ms Ruiko Muto, who heads the group that pushed for the trial, told AFP outside the Tokyo District Court.
