French Court Studies Chernobyl Case

PARIS (Reuters) - France's High Court said on Thursday it would need at least a month to say if it will take up a case against ex-cabinet ministers accused of failing to warn the public against the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The case was brought by Yohann Van Waeyenberghe, 31, from the Champagne capital of Reims, who claims his thyroid cancer was caused by fallout in eastern France from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, justice sources said.

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The complaint, the first such legal action in France, targeted then Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Health Minister Michele Barzach and Environment Minister Alain Carignon.

Van Waeyenberghe asked that the three politicians ''recognize their stupidity'' in not issuing explicit warnings of the dangers of fallout after a blast at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

He said in his complaint that he would show his medical condition was a result of the disaster

The High Court of Justice of the Republic exists solely to try serving or past government members for offenses committed while in office.

A radioactive cloud swept from Chernobyl across much of eastern and western Europe. Soviet officials originally tried to play down the seriousness of the disaster, which official data show killed thousands of people and affected millions more in Ukraine alone.