Fear over freedom as Japan’s new state secrets law enacted

[PressForNirvana]

Fear over freedom as Japan’s new state secrets law enacted

Days before Japan's election campaign ends, critics say the measures will give Prime Minister Shinzo Abe more leeway to control the media

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 10 December, 2014, 11:01pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 10 December, 2014, 11:01pm

Bloomberg in Tokyo

Opponents of Japan's controversial new secrecy law demonstrate in front of the prime minister's office in Tokyo yesterday.Photo: Kyodo

An unpopular law granting Japan's government wider powers to declare state secrets took effect yesterday as the country's election campaign drew to a close, potentially giving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe greater leeway to control the media.

Under the act, people can be jailed for as long as 10 years for leaking state-designated secrets, on matters from foreign affairs to defence and counter-terrorism. While the government says the law will help Japan share information with others including the US, legal and newspaper groups say it is vague and may suppress press freedom.

Approved 12 months ago by parliament, the legislation is part of Abe's push to strengthen the nation's defence in the face of China's assertiveness.

Even as the law is unpopular with the public - alongside his security and nuclear policies - it is unlikely to sway voters in an economy-focused election on Sunday that Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to win.

"The secrets law is aimed at agents, terrorists and spies, and isn't related to ordinary people," Abe said on TBS TV last month, adding he would step down should the law be used to control the media or film-making.

The measure led the opposition to call a no-confidence vote in Abe's government when the Diet approved it last December.

State secrets are defined in 55 categories, such as information about the development of submarines, aircraft, weapons and ammunition. Intelligence and images obtained via radio waves and satellites and provided by foreign governments and international organisations could be withheld from the public.

The initial five-year-designation period for a state secret can be extended for up to 30 years. But state secrets can remain classified for a maximum 60 years if approved by the cabinet.

Civil servants or others who leak secrets will face up to 10 years' prison. Those who instigate leaks, including journalists, will be subject to a prison term of up to five years.

The law takes effect just as Abe appears to be seeking greater influence over the nation's media, according to Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo.

And Kaori Hayashi, a professor at Tokyo University's Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, added: "The definition of secret is very vague, and people including myself, are wary of misuse."

The LDP sent a letter to Japan's five biggest broadcasters last month to demand unbiased reporting of the election.

Abe - who has criticised the Asahi newspaper for its coverage of Japan's treatment of wartime "comfort women" - said on December 1 that he did not order the party to send the letter, though he hoped the election would be covered "fairly and impartially".

The Japanese Federation of Bar Associations said on its website that the new act carried the danger of arbitrary designation of secrets.

In a statement on Monday, the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association said the maximum sentence for leaks was too harsh and could damage reporting activities and the public's "right to know".

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government would strive to safeguard the public interest. "We'll make proper efforts to gain the understanding of the people on this law," he said.

About 58 per cent of respondents to a Kyodo News survey published on December 1 said the act should be revised or abolished, while 39 per cent said it should either be left as-is or made even stronger.

After the passage of the bill last year, Japan fell six places to 59th out of 180 nations in Reporters Without Borders' 2014 World Press Freedom Index, leaving it behind such nations as Serbia and Botswana.

Additional reporting by Kyodo