Japan parlliament ratifies controversial anti-terror bill

‘Japan has enacted a controversial anti-terror law that has sparked street protests and warnings from critics that it would stomp on citizens’ privacy rights.
The upper house of the Japanese parliament passed the anti-terror bill early Thursday after political wrangling through the night, overcoming the weak opposition’s no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet and a censure motion aimed at Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda.
The bill passed the more powerful lower house last month. Abe’s ruling coalition has a comfortable majority in both houses.
The new law allows investigators to charge an individual or organization that conspires to engage in terrorism or other serious crimes.
But rights groups, Japan’s national bar association, and numerous academics have opposed the bill, saying it is so broad it could be abused to allow wiretapping of innocent citizens and threaten privacy and freedom of expression guarantees in the constitution.’
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