nuclear-news

A Source from Japan Writes:

Below is directly from the japan times – basically under new laws rushed through by Abe in dec 2013, an individual can be indicted for conspiracy if he/she  goes after a politician or official. An official in this context means any high ranking official at TEPCO. There is huge and widespread distrust of the govt/TEPCO’s handling of the situation – people are now scared to step forward – this is from a very wide range of friends and not one of them believes the govt on this issue.

The introduction of this law is the biggest erosion of free speech in japan in my lifetime. If you are Japanese there is no effective remedy, add to this that voter turn out is extremely low (I don’t know of anyone that votes) and this is a picture that won’t change.

This is from the Japan Times:……….   People should not be duped by Abe’s misleading rhetoric. The simple fact is that whatever explanations he may give about the law, its content and nature will not change now that the law has been enacted. If Abe wants to give detailed explanations about the law, why did his administration not set aside enough time for thorough Diet deliberations? If it had done so, more problems about the law would have been exposed to the public’s eyes……….

Abe’s contention that the scope of secrets will not expand is a smokescreen. It conceals the fact that under the law, heads of administrative bodies have discretionary power to designate information related to security, diplomacy, counterintelligence and anti-terrorism as special secrets without effective, third-party independent oversight — thus virtually without limits……….

Abe’s contention that the law will never threaten people’s ordinary lives is also groundless. Under the law, people could be accused of “conspiracy” for discussing whether to approach government officials for information that happened to have been designated as special secrets, or accused of “incitement” for just asking officials to release such information.

The law’s definition of terrorism is so wide that state authorities could regard as acts of terrorism political, civic and other activities by citizens aimed at persuading the government and other organizations or people to consider their opinions or demands, and thus monitor, investigate or suppress their activities even before such activities become public.

It cannot be overly emphasized that the law undermines freedom of the press, people’s right to know and freedom of expression……….

December 6, 2013, should be remembered as the day that the LDP and New Komeito enacted a law that could undermine not only the freedom of press and expression but also other various constitutional principles.

Citizens, realizing that the law is based on a shaky and feeble legal foundation, should use various means available such as sending letters to lawmakers, issuing statements, making speeches, organizing study meetings and taking part in demonstrations to make clear that they will not accept the revival of some falsely glorified past in which Abe seems to believe — a past in which the Japanese public was deprived of the right to know what the government was doing. http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/01/02/japan-the-truth-about-fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-power-station/