- In connection with the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Tokyo High Court has confirmed the acquittal of three former managers of the nuclear power plant operator Tepco.
- The Supreme Court agreed with a district court, which had already found the accused innocent in 2019.
In September 2019, the Tokyo District Court acquitted the former CEO of Tepco, the now 82-year-old Tsunehisa Katsumata, and the former vice-chairmen Sakae Muto (72) and Ichiro Takekuro (76). They were charged with negligent homicide.
According to the plaintiffs who appealed the verdict, the defendants should have stopped operating the Fukushima Daiichi power plant long before the 2011 disaster. This was after they received information that a possible tsunami would exceed the power plant’s capacity. The three former Tepco managers had been threatened with imprisonment for up to five years.
conviction in a civil proceeding
Civil rights activists were surprised by the judgment of the Tokyo Criminal Court. They pointed out that in separate civil proceedings, four former Tepco managers had been sentenced to pay the equivalent of 95 billion Swiss francs in damages.
Legend:
Supporters of the plaintiffs protest at the Tokyo court after the verdict was announced.
REUTERS/ ISSEI KATO
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was struck by an earthquake in March 2011 and then hit by a tsunami. Core meltdowns occurred in three reactors. It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.