The Saitama District Court on Tuesday rejected a 200 million yen lawsuit filed by vegetable farmers in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, over a 1999 report by Asahi National Broadcasting Co. (TV Asahi) about dioxin contamination.
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| A banner reading "Unfair Judgment" is unfurled by farmers in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. |
Aired on Feb. 1, 1999, the report, which said high levels of the carcinogen had been detected in local spinach and other vegetables from the area, caused prices of the produce to collapse.
Presiding Judge Yasushi Sato ruled out the need for TV Asahi and a private research institute to pay the 376 farmers who sought compensation, an apology and a correction from the network.
Sato said he "acknowledges that the TV Asahi report clearly damaged the social reputation of the plaintiffs and defamed individual farmers," but said the broadcast "was intended to protect the public interest and the thrust of the report was correct."