TOKYO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday approved the submission of a contentious bill to parliament to criminalize the act of preparing for terrorism and other serious crimes, amid vast political and public opposition.
The government maintains that the bill is needed to protect against potential acts of terrorism that may occur during the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, with Abe's administration claiming that the latest version of the bill is less invasive than previous versions that were submitted and failed.
But opposition parties, lawyers and civic groups have voiced major concerns that the bill will lead to the government being allowed to invade the privacy of ordinary citizens and unjustly punish civic groups and labor unions.
Opposition parties on Tuesday vowed to not allow the bill to pass through parliament and into law stating that the bill was no different to three former iterations submitted to parliament that were subsequently scrapped.
They claimed that the bill will erode the integrity of the criminal code in Japan by allowing people to be charged in connections with crimes that have not been committed.
Opponents to the legislation also believe that the scope of the bill is not limited to terrorist groups and could be applied in an arbitrary manner by law enforcement personnel, despite the government's arguments to the contrary.
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