Tokyo court clears former Tepco executives of negligence over Fukushima disaster

FILE PHOTO: A combination picture shows (L-R) former Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO) Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto, former vice presidents of TEPCO, arriving at the Tokyo District Court for the first criminal trial over the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo June 30, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Tokyo court cleared on Thursday three former Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) <9501.T> executives of negligence for the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the only criminal case to arise out of the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Former Tepco Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and one-time executives Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro were all found not guilty by the Tokyo District Court. Dressed in dark suits and ties the defendants sat in silence as Presiding Judge Kenichi Nagafuchi read the judgement.