Nagasaki Court Recognizes Some Plaintiffs as A-Bomb Victims

   Nagasaki, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--Nagasaki District Court on Monday recognized as hibakusha atomic bomb victims some of the people affected by the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city outside the state-designated area for recognizing victims.
   The court, presided over by Judge Shinsuke Matsunaga, ordered the Nagasaki prefectural and city governments to issue atomic bomb survivor's certificates to some of the 44 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Four of the plaintiffs have already died.
   In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that they should be recognized as hibakusha because they suffered health damage from ash and other radioactive fallout following the atomic bombing in the closing days of World War II.
   The defense side, including the central government, said there was insufficient scientific evidence to support the plaintiffs' claims of health damage and called for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
   Over the same issue, two groups of plaintiffs filed lawsuits with the Nagasaki court in 2007 and 2011, respectively, but the Supreme Court finalized rulings against the plaintiffs in both cases.

(2024/09/09-16:13)

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