Opposition parties criticized Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba's remark on Wednesday that publishing designated state secrets by media organizations would be subject to punishment under the newly enacted state secret protection law.
Though he soon denied that media reports on state secrets will be punished, remarks such as the one Ishiba made earlier "will wither news gathering activities," a middle-ranking member of the Democratic Party of Japan said, adding Ishiba could have expressed his real thought.
A senior official of Your Party said that the remark was made because parliamentary discussions on the law were insufficient. The opposition party accepted the secrecy bill upon agreement with the ruling camp on its revision but walked out before the final parliamentary vote on the legislation on Friday, arguing the LDP was trying to enact it too hastily.
Source: Jiji Press
