- Title: Tokyo court clears former Tepco executives of negligence over Fukushima disaster
- Date: 19th September 2019
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 19, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PEOPLE ARRIVING TO HEAR THE VERDICT AND RALLY OUTSIDE TOKYO DISTRICT COURT PROTESTERS AND MEDIA WAITING OUTSIDE THE COURT MEMBERS OF CITIZENS' GROUP THAT ACCUSED FORMER TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER (TEPCO) CEOS OF NEGLIGENCE FOR THE 2011 FUKUSHIMA DISASTERS, COMING OUTSIDE THE COURT WITH BANNER READING (Japanese): "ALL NOT GUILTY, UNJUST RULING" BANNER READING (Japanese): "ALL NOT GUILTY, UNJUST RULING" PROTESTERS AND MEDIA GATHERING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) FORMER RESIDENT OF FUKUSHIMA AND MEMBER OF CIVIL GROUP THAT ACCUSED FORMER TEPCO CEOS, SAEKO UNO, SAYING: "So as not to embarrass our children and future generations, I think we'll will start the fight again." PROTESTERS AND MEDIA GATHERING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RESIDENT OF FUKUSHIMA, KEIKO SASAKI, SAYING: "How could they (the court) rule this decision. We cannot understand, and cannot accept it. For the past eight and a half years, there are many people who were forced to evacuate from their home, home town and still looking for a place to live." WOMAN CRYING PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNERS TOKYO DISTRICT COURT MEDIA WAITING OUTSIDE THE COURT ENTRANCE OF THE COURT PEOPLE HOLDING BANNER READING (Japanese): "FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWERPLANT PROSECUTION GROUP"
- Embargoed: 3rd October 2019 09:29
- Keywords: Japan Tokyo Electric Power court Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Powerplant disaster
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001AXBN13B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Tokyo court cleared on Thursday (September 19) three former Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) executives of negligence for the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the only criminal case to arise out of the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
Former Tepco Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and one-time executives Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro were all found not guilty by the Tokyo District Court. Dressed in dark suits and ties the defendants sat in silence as Presiding Judge Kenichi Nagafuchi read the judgement.
Dozens of people, including those who travelled from Fukushima and other cities, gathered outside the court to hear the trial, which started in June 2017. After the court handed down the verdict, Keiko Sasaki, a resident of Fukushima, told reporters that the ruling was not acceptable.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station, located about 220 km (130 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was rocked by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011, sparking three reactor meltdowns and prompting Japan to shut down its entire fleet of nuclear reactors.
More than 160,000 residents fled nearby towns in the aftermath as radiation from the reactors contaminated water, food and air.
(Production: Yasuteru Ueda, Kwiyeon Ha) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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