An appeals court on Wednesday upheld an acquittal of three former executives of
The
The ruling cleared the defendants of professional negligence resulting in deaths and injuries.
The three were indicted in 2016 for allegedly failing to implement tsunami countermeasures, resulting in the deaths of 44 people -- including patients at a hospital in Fukushima Prefecture -- after they were forced to endure long-term evacuations.
Prosecutors had decided not to pursue criminal charges against the three, but that decision was ultimately superseded by a committee for the inquest of prosecution made up of members of the general public who reviewed the case and called for indictments.
The trial focused on whether the former executives should have foreseen the massive tsunami and prevented the accident, given that it was calculated tsunami waves of up to 15.7 meters could strike the Fukushima plant based on the government's long-term evaluation of quake risks in 2002. The estimate was reported to TEPCO in 2008.
Court-appointed lawyers acting as prosecutors demanded each of the three men be given a five-year prison sentence, while the defendants denied any wrongdoing.
In
Although prosecutors alleged the defendants failed to implement the construction of a seawall and flood prevention work to core facilities, the lower court ruled that a temporary shutdown was the only guaranteed way to avoid an accident.
There have also been civil cases focusing on whether a tsunami could have been anticipated, with courts coming to different decisions.
In June last year, the
Meanwhile, in a shareholder lawsuit, the
In appeal trials, the high court was required to make a decision based on similar testimony and evidence submitted to the lower court.
On
The Nos. 1 to 3 reactors subsequently suffered core meltdowns, while hydrogen explosions damaged the building housing the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 units.
==Kyodo
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