A contentious bill that would criminalize conspiracy to commit terrorism has been pared down to include less than half of the 676 acts, behaviors or crimes originally targeted, a source close to the matter said Friday.
The bill would amend the law on organized crime to add a charge of making preparations for terrorism.
Bills of a similar nature have failed in the Diet in recent years amid heavy criticism such a law could be used by authorities as a front to abuse human rights, suppress civic groups and arbitrarily punish people who have committed no wrongdoing.