RULING

Ex-Power Execs Found Not Guilty of Negligence After Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown

They were found not guilty of causing the deaths of 44 elderly patients who were forced to evacuate from a local hospital.

A Japanese court ruled that three former executives accused of causing dozens of deaths stemming from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown were not guilty of professional negligence. The three former employees of the Tokyo Electric Power Company were found not guilty of causing the deaths of 44 elderly patients whose health deteriorated after they were forced to evacuate from a local hospital after the nuclear disaster. Ex-chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, along with two ex-executives Sakae Muto, and Ichiro Takekuro, were charged with failing to foresee the tsunami that struck the plant in 2011, and for failing to take preventive measures that might have protected the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. “This is only the beginning of a major battle,” Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer representing more than 5,700 Fukushima residents, told the AP ahead of Thursday’s ruling. “Our ultimate goal is to eradicate dangerous nuclear plants that have thrown many residents into despair.”