The trial of three former executives of the company that operated the Fukushima nuclear power plant has started in Tokyo, with all defendants pleading not guilty to charges of negligence over the 2011 disaster.
The trial is the first to consider criminal prosecution of officials responsible for the plant over alleged failures to take adequate safety measures.
During the first session of the trial, held at the Tokyo District Court, the three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
"I apologise for causing the serious accident," said Tsunehisa Katsumata, 77, who was chairman of TEPCO at the time of the accident, as cited by local news agency Kyodo.
But, he said, the accident "was impossible to predict."
The prosecution says the accident at the Fukushima plant, whose reactors experienced a partial nuclear meltdown due to a failure of the cooling system, exposed people residing near the facility to highly radioactive emissions.
It also claims Katsumata and two former vice presidents, Sakae Muto, 67, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71, were responsible for the injuries sustained by 13 people, including plant workers and armed forces personnel, and the deaths of 44 people after they were evacuated from a hospital they were admitted to.
The trial, which is expected to last until at least early 2018, seeks to determine who is responsible for the disaster and if it could have been prevented.
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