Antinuclear

10,000 Japanese seek criminal charges against nuclear power officials

Second mass complaint coming over Fukushima disaster,Asahi Shimbun November 02, 2012 By MASAKAZU HONDA/ Staff Writer FUKUSHIMA—More than 10,000 people from across Japan are seeking criminal charges against officials of Japan’s government and the utility that operates the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, after a similar mass complaint this summer accused 33 officials of causing death and injury through negligence.

Prosecutors in Fukushima Prefecture are currently examining the
earlier complaint, filed in June by 1,324 people who were residents of
the prefecture at the time of the accident in March 2011.

Complainants behind the new case plan to file it with the Fukushima
District Public Prosecutors Office on Nov. 15. The group numbers about
10,850 individuals, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the
south.

The group is led by Ruiko Muto, 59, who traveled around the country
seeking support.

Complainants argued that a broadly backed complaint would show that
the general public is seeking criminal accountability for those who
promoted nuclear power—and hold them responsible for damage from the
disaster and for exposing victims to radiation.

The first complaint named 33 individuals, including 15 current and
former officials of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the company that
operates the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

It said they should be charged with professional negligence resulting
in death and injury because they failed to take safety measures and
furthermore released wrong information.Prosecutors have had TEPCO
submit video footage of teleconferences conducted between the head
office and the Fukushima plant in the aftermath of the earthquake and
tsunami.

They are expected to question concerned individuals before deciding
whether to issue indictments.

Prosecutors have asked complainants to submit documents relating to
people who died during the evacuation.

In addition to those documents, complainants plan to submit medical
certificates for evacuees who were diagnosed as suffering mental
trauma as a result of their ordeal.

They have argued that victims suffered “injuries” from radiation
exposure. But it is thought to be difficult in law to establish a
causal relationship between those purported injuries and the nuclear
accident.

November 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized