Thousands of Japanese protesters flooded the streets of Tokyo to condemn Japan’s lower house’s approval of a so-called “anti-conspiracy” bill designed to crack down on organized crime and punish those planning to commit “serious crimes” against the state.
On Tuesday, Japan’s House of Representatives, approved the so-called “conspiracy bill, ” which lists 277 new types of offenses which lawmakers say threaten Japanese national security.
Tokyo argues the legislation needs to be adopted ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 to fight terrorism and organized crime. The Japanese government also says that the bill is necessary to ratify United Nations’ Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
Opponents of the new measures argue that the government will now be able to prosecute those who have nothing to do with terrorism or serious crime enterprises. Critics further fear the legislation could equate such offenses as sit-in protests and violations of copyrights to “serious crimes.”
The proposed bill needs to be ratified by the upper house, the House of Councillors, before it becomes a law. It is expected to be enacted as the ruling coalition also has a majority in the upper house.
