Forty-five Chinese laborers who were forced to work as slaves in Japanese mines during World War II are planning to appeal a verdict in their lawsuit which was turned down on technical grounds by a Japanese court Wednesday.

In a statement released in Beijing by their Chinese and Japanese lawyers, the 45 plaintiffs voiced their indignation over the verdict handed down by the Fukuoka District Court in southern Japan.

"We filed the lawsuit not only for compensation, but more importantly, to get the Japanese to admit their guilt," said Li Lianjie, 77, one of the plaintiffs

"I will fight for justice for as long as I live," said the old man.

The 45 plaintiffs were forcibly taken to Japan in 1944 when they were teenagers or young men. They were forced to toil in the mines before they were sent back to China, half starved a year later at the end of the war.

"I was 17 when I was taken to Japan. It is the darkest period of my life. All I can recall is working, starving and being beaten," said Li .

Li was of more than 40,000 Chinese who were taken by force to work in terrible conditions during the war. More than 7,000 died there.

The lawsuit asked for apologies and compensation of 23 million yen (approximately 200,000 US dollars) for each of the plaintiffs from the Japanese government and two Japanese firms, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, and Mitsui Mining Co. Ltd,. The lawsuit was first filed in February 2003.

The court rejected the claim on the ground that a 20-year statute of limitations had passed. It also ruled that a country should be exempt from any responsibility for the actions of its public servants that caused harm while carrying out their duties, said Kang Jian, the leading Chinese lawyer in the case.

The plaintiffs' statement claims that "it is unfair and irresponsible for the court to turn down the claim".

Kang said the verdict was not entirely unexpected.

"We are braced for a long-term fight," said Kang. "We will make the crimes of the Japanese against the Chinese known to more people as we prepare for the appeal," he said.

"As a Japanese, I'm ashamed of the verdict but we will never give up and many Japanese support the Chinese in this case," said Ikenaga Mitsuru, a Japanese lawyer working on behalf of the Chinese plaintiffs.

Source: Xinhua