Government claims bill is necessary to tackle crime ahead of 2020 Olympics, but critics say it threatens human rights.
Japan’s ruling coalition passed a controversial law on Thursday, targeting conspiracies to commit “terrorism” and other serious crimes.
Thousands of people have protested in Tokyo against the law over the past two days.
More than 5,000 people gathered outside the Japanese parliament on Wednesday to demonstrate against the law and protests are set to continue into Thursday night.
#Tokyo youngsters shouting #NoPasaran right now at 23: 55 in front of the Diet bldg to protest new conspiracy bill. #Antifa #Public4Future pic.twitter.com/CucmkuPPfZ
The government says the bill is part of the international joint effort against crime ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games.
After the parliamentary vote on Thursday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters the law seeks to protect Japanese citizens and is part of the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, “to prevent terrorism before it happens”.
But critics say it’s an abuse of power and an unconstitutional attack on freedom of expression.
“This legislation is the perfect example of how the government is using counterterrorism as an excuse for mass-surveilance of ordinary citizens and activists, trying to re-militarise the country and crackdown on dissidents, ” Tokyo resident, Lisa Torio, told Al Jazeera.
