Asahi led with a story on the Abe administration’s plan to enact legislation intended to criminalize conspiracy. Pointing out that similar bills were submitted to the Diet three times under the Koizumi administration but that they were all scrapped in the face of strong criticism from the opposition and the public on account of broad investigative discretion to be given to law enforcement authorities, the daily said that under the newly compiled legislation, the scope of conspiracy and the targets of investigation will be narrowed so as to deflect any criticism. The administration is eyeing to enact the bill on “premediated organized crimes including terrorism” by underscoring the need to ensure public safety ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In a separate piece, the paper said since Japan is the only G8 country which has not yet ratified the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and a conspiracy bill needs to be passed for ratification, the GOJ wants to enact the bill quickly by capitalizing on its high public support and the Tokyo Olympics based on the assessment that the nation is now receptive to such legislation in view of recent terrorist attacks around the world.