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1st LD Writethru: Ex-TEPCO execs to face mandatory indictment

Xinhua, July 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tsunehisa Katsumata, 75, company chairman at the time of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and two former vice- presidents will face mandatory indictment on charge of professional negligence, local media reported Friday.

Given the decision by the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, the Tokyo District Court will pick lawyers to serve as prosecutors and the three, also including Sakae Muto, 65, and Ichiro Takekuro, 69, will be indicted over their handling of the aftermath of the quake and deaths and injuries caused by it, according to Kyodo News Agency.

Tokyo prosecutors in January rejected the panel's judgment that the three should be charged, citing insufficient evidence. But the 11 unidentified citizens on the panel forced the indictment after a second vote, which holds sway over the prosecutors' decision.

The panel ruled that the former executives had failed to take countermeasures to strengthen the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant despite foreseeing the dangers it faced from tsunamis, Kyodo reported. The Tokyo Public Prosecutors' office could not be immediately reached for comment.

An earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, sparking triple nuclear meltdowns, forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee nearby towns, creating the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Local residents have filed criminal complaint against more than 30 TEPCO and government officials of ignoring the risks of natural disasters and failing to respond appropriately to the nuclear crisis. However, prosecutors declined in 2013 to charge related persons. Endi