Reuters/Tokyo
Japan’s prime minister at the time of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster said yesterday he would sue the current premier, Shinzo Abe, for defamation over an article criticising the emergency operation he supervised during the crisis.
Naoto Kan, now a lawmaker for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, took the highly unusual step only a few days before an upper house election, on Sunday, in which nuclear power is one of the most hotly debated issues.
Kan has become a vocal opponent of nuclear power in the wake of the disaster, while Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wants atomic energy to help pull the economy out of stagnation.
Kan headed the government when an earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people and set off the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years when the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant was destroyed, leaking radiation into the sea and air.
In an article from May 20, 2011, still visible on Abe’s website, Abe criticised Kan for taking credit for the decision to cool the melting nuclear reactors with seawater. He said Kan had not been aware of the operation at first, then stopped it only to finally restart it after consulting experts.
“The content is based on totally false information. The article has severely damaged my honour,” Kan told a news conference at parliament, adding that he had asked Abe to remove the article several times.
Kan demanded that Abe immediately delete the story, apologise and pay 11mn yen ($110,100) in compensation.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds his ballot paper as he votes in an absentee balloting for the upper house election in Tokyo in a photo released by Kyodo yesterday.