Japan Press Weekly

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2017 May 31 - June 6 [POLITICS]

PEN International issues statement opposing ‘anti-conspiracy’ bill

PEN International on June 5 published a statement opposing the “anti-conspiracy” bill under the name of President Jennifer Clement.

This was announced on the same day at a press conference held by Japan P.E.N Club, a branch of PEN International representing more than 26,000 writers and journalists across the world.

The statement states that “with alarm”, PEN International observes the Abe government’s intent to create a law to criminalize conspiracy. The document points out that if enacted, the law “will harm freedom of expression and the right to privacy in Japan”. It urges the Diet to “vote against this legislation, which could deeply harm the basic freedoms of the Japanese people”.

PEN International was established in 1921. Based in London, the organization has 149 PEN Centers in over 100 countries and regions including Japan.

Past related articles:
> Japan PEN: We’ll keep gov’t from violating our freedom of expression [April 9, 2017]
> Writers’ international NGO opposes Japan’s state secrets protection bill [November 21, 2013]