A Japanese district court on Wednesday ordered the state and others to pay a total of 350 million yen ($2.3 million) in damages to 128 unrecognized sufferers of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease, making it the first such ruling among similar lawsuits filed nationwide over the country's redress measure.The Osaka District Court recognized that all of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who were not eligible for relief payments under a special law that went into force in 2009, were victims of Minamata disease, with their lawyers welcoming the judgment as a "complete victory."The disease, forma…READ FULL ARTICLE
