A group of people on Tuesday filed a second criminal complaint against a former nuclear safety official and eight others, arguing they failed to take necessary preventive measures in the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
A complaint filed in June 2012 named Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s then-chairman, Tsunehisa Katsumata, and others for causing the 2011 disaster at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The accused this time include Yoshinori Moriyama, a former official in charge of nuclear disaster countermeasures at the now-defunct Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and others, including Tepco officials.
The complainants comprise a range of people, including some residents of Fukushima Prefecture. Their written complaint filed with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office accuses the nine of responsibility for people being exposed to radiation because they failed to take countermeasures for possible severe accidents.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office is reinvestigating the first case after an independent judicial panel of citizens ruled last year that Katsumata and two other Tepco officials merit indictment despite a decision by prosecutors not to indict them.