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[ponpo]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-politics-conspiracy-idUSKBN1953BZ

Japan's ruling bloc enacted a law targeting conspiracies to commit terrorism and other serious crimes on Thursday, pushing it through parliament's upper house despite concerns over civil liberties.

The vote followed opposition party delaying tactics, protests and concerns raised by a United Nations expert - who called the legislation "defective" - and came days before the current session of parliament was set to end on June 18.

Japanese governments had tried three times previously to pass similar legislation, which officials say is needed to ratify a U.N. treaty aimed at global organized crime as well as to prevent terrorism as Tokyo prepares to host the 2020 Olympics.

The legislation would criminalize plotting and preparing to commit 277 "serious crimes" that critics such as the Japan Federation of Bar Associations note include acts with no obvious connection to terrorism or organized crime, such as sit-ins to protest construction of apartment buildings or copying music.

Combined with a widening of legal wiretapping and the reluctance of courts to limit police surveillance powers, the changes could deter grassroots opposition to government policies, critics say.

To try to speed up passage of the law, the ruling bloc took the rare, contentious step of skipping a vote in an upper house committee and moving directly to a vote in the full upper house.

The U.N. special rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci, wrote to Abe last month asking him to address the risk that the changes could "lead to undue restrictions to the rights to privacy and to freedom of expression".

A Kyodo news agency survey last month showed voters are split over the bill, with support at 39.9 percent and opposition at 41.4 percent.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20.../last-minute-conspiracy-bill-vote-roils-diet/

Unconvinced of the government assertion the bill will only target suspected terrorists, opposition lawmakers argue it could in reality be abused by law enforcement to crack down on ordinary citizens suspected of allegedly plotting crimes, turning Japan into a surveillance society.

It will also upend a traditional principle of Japan's criminal law that one can only be punished after crimes have been committed, they say.

Joseph Cannataci, a U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, has expressed his concern over ”the risks of arbitrary application of this legislation."

Among 277 types of crimes subject to the revised anti-organized crime law are those seemingly unrelated to organized crime and terrorism, including laws criminalizing theft of forestry products and those against violating copyrights, the expert pointed out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/world/asia/japan-anti-terror-conspiracy-abe.html

An appendix to the bill includes unlicensed bike racing, copyright infringement and stealing plants from forest preserves, exposing those involved in the planning of such activities to prosecution.

Terrorists seeking to bike race without a license and steal plants will be stopped at last.

 

[AuthenticM]

The legislation would criminalize plotting and preparing to commit 277 "serious crimes" that critics such as the Japan Federation of Bar Associations note include acts with no obvious connection to terrorism or organized crime, such as sit-ins to protest construction of apartment buildings or copying music.

get the fuck out of here.

Young people in Japan must be so eager to see the old generation die off so they can vote some new blood in the Diet.

 

[xk0sm0sx]

acts with no obvious connection to terrorism or organized crime, such as sit-ins to protest construction of apartment buildings

Haha pretty sure that's targeted against the Okinawans' protests of US military bases being constructed, which gets pretty ugly because the protests have gone beyond just sit-ins but assault on guards at times, and some speculations that the leaders of the protestors are koreans and chinese.
But then Okinawans also have a right to be angry US and Japan keeps building bases there and not the rest of Japan.

 

[Jackpot]

An entire group - defined as two or more people - can be charged if at least one member is found to have been plotting the crime.

Can't see how that could go wrong!

 

[Theonik]

Can't see how that could go wrong!

This is pretty common of conspiracy legislation.

 

[Herr Schwarz]

Yeah it feels all this anti terrorist stuff seems more about locking the population down if there is future turmoil

 

[sprsk]

get the fuck out of here.

Young people in Japan must be so eager to see the old generation die off so they can vote some new blood in the Diet.

Hahahaha

 

[Theonik]

get the fuck out of here.

Young people in Japan must be so eager to see the old generation die off so they can vote some new blood in the Diet.

...
Why do you think these laws exist?

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Hahahaha

I wish I could laugh.

 

[ponpo]

And
https://twitter.com/ShingetsuNews/status/875310848524247042

LINE app making agreement with Abe govt to integrate use of MyNumber system as means of identifying individuals.

Abe pls.

 

[Diablos]

Can't this be ruled as unconstitutional? I'm not sure how it would work there but this seems to be way too far reaching

 

[Izuna]

get the fuck out of here.

Young people in Japan must be so eager to see the old generation die off so they can vote some new blood in the Diet.

Doubt it

Young people won't vote regardless. You'll only have the agenda-driven conservatives for generations to come.