All experts at Diet hearing worried about Secrets bill

December 4, 2013

Experts voice concern over secrecy bill at Diet hearing

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131204p2g00m0dm015000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- All of the experts invited to appear at a Diet hearing on Tuesday expressed concern about controversial legislation to toughen penalties for leakers of state secrets that the ruling bloc is aiming to enact this week.

Lawyer Yoichi Eto of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, who has been analyzing the bill, called for the secrecy bill to be scrapped during his appearance as an unsworn witness in the session of the upper house's security committee, saying the bill could be "used for the suppression of free speech and for political suppression."

Referring to the "special secrets" of the state concerning counterterrorism, diplomacy, defense and counterespionage that the bill targets, Eto said, "While it may be necessary to protect special secrets in terms of security, the beneficiary of security should be the people," calling for the highest priority to be placed on respecting the people's right to know.

Toshiaki Hibino, the head of the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers' Unions, also said the bill should be scrapped, noting that public servants who have been providing information to journalists will be intimidated and certainly stop passing on information that the public should know.

Toshio Seya, former head of the Regional Banks Association of Japan, acknowledged the necessity of the bill but expressed concern about the possibility that private individuals will be punished under the envisioned law, calling for careful deliberations.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally the New Komeito party pushed the bill through the lower house last week and now plan to have it clear the upper house by Friday, the end of the current Diet session.

Eto and Hibino were recommended as witnesses by opposition parties, while Seya was recommended by the ruling coalition.