Japan: Special State Secrets Law
December 6th, 2013Update: Japan Enacts Strict State Secrets Law Despite Protests
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Via: Guardian:
Whistleblowers and journalists in Japan could soon find themselves facing long spells in prison for divulging and reporting state secrets, possibly including sensitive information about the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the country’s souring relations with China.
Under a special state secrets bill expected to pass on Friday, public officials and private citizens who leak “special state secrets” face prison terms of up to 10 years, while journalists who seek to obtain the classified information could get up to five years.
Critics of the new law say it marks a return to the days of prewar and wartime Japanese militarism, when the state used the Peace Preservation Act to arrest and imprison political opponents.
“It is a threat to democracy,” said Keiichi Kiriyama, an editorial writer for the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, adding that the legislation would “have a chilling effect on public servants, who could become wary about giving the information” to journalists.
