Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The judge in the case involving three directors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant halted proceedings on Monday and said a verdict would be delivered in December.

Protesters outside the courthouse demanded that the hearing continue and a decision handed down earlier in the matter of negligence that resulted in the death of patients at a hospital near the nuclear power plant.

The plaintiffs claim that errors were made during the evacuation of Futaba Hospital that resulted in the death of 44 patients. Part of the claim concerns actions that the nuclear power plant’s management – Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) – failed to carry out preventative measures that would have protected the power plant.

This is the only criminal trial attempting to assess the responsibilities and negligence of TEPCO.

During the appeal of this lawsuit, the lawyers submitted a petition with 12,140 signatures for the prosecutor to come to the Fukushima plant to examine the evidence.