Three former power company executives have gone on trial in Japan on charges linked to the Fukushima disaster.
It is the first criminal trial over the 2011 meltdown at the nuclear plant.
The meltdown, triggered by an earthquake which caused a massive tsunami, was the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
All three have pleaded not guilty to professional negligence resulting in death and injury of patients evacuated from a hospital near the plant.
The quake and tsunami left around 18,500 people dead or missing and left large areas uninhabitable.
Who is on trial?
The three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) are chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 77, and vice-presidents Sakae Muto, 66, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71.
If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.
The trial is the first and only one raising criminal charges related the Fukushima disaster.
What are the charges?
No-one died directly in the Fukushima accident.
The charges against the three men are linked to the deaths of more than 40 patients who had to be evacuated from a hospital in the area and later died.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Fukushima nuclear plant was hit by a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in March 2011Around 80,000 people were forced to flee their homes when three reactors failed at the plant after it was flooded.
The accident let to a complete shutdown of all nuclear reactors in the country. Despite widespread anti-nuclear sentiment, several reactors have since resumed operations after passing special safety checks.
What are the arguments?
The tsunami brought waves as high as 14m (46 feet) to parts of the east coast.
The three accused are expected to argue they had no way of expecting a natural disaster of that magnitude and how it would affect the nuclear plant.
The prosecution, however, says studies conducted in the years before the accidents had been ignored by the company.
An internal 2008 study by Tepco had reportedly simulated a similar scenario of an earthquake and tsunami but had not led to action by the management.
A parliamentary report compiled a year after the disaster said Fukushima was a man-made disaster caused by Japan's culture of reflexive obedience.
from BBC News - World http://ift.tt/2sXCp90
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