A group of writers and journalists Friday called again on the government to scrap an amended set of five bills covering the protection of personal information that the Diet began debating earlier this week.

Opponents of the bills, including journalist Yoshiko Sakurai and writers Saburo Shiroyama and Shinobu Yoshioka, rallied outside an office building used by House of Representatives lawmakers.

According to the group, the amended package of bills are no different from the original bills that were jettisoned by the Diet last year.

The Diet began deliberating the new package Tuesday.

"I was relieved when the government and the ruling bloc withdrew the original bills. I thought it was finally over," said Shiroyama, who has promised to establish a monument to mark "the death of freedom of speech."

"This country is for the people, not the bureaucrats," Sakurai said. "The bills resemble laws found in autocracies."

Referring to an opposition-sponsored bill that is also being discussed in the Diet, Yoshioka said: "It is regrettable that the bill targets everyone, not just media people. We met with opposition lawmakers to help shape the draft bill but they did not use our opinions."

The bill submitted by the opposition parties calls for stricter handling of personal information, especially that related to personal beliefs, medical history, criminal records and family origins, all of which could be used in a discriminatory way.

The Cabinet presented the original package of bills to the Diet last year. However, that package was drastically revised due to widespread criticism it could be used to regulate media activities.

The new version excludes the media from restrictions and penalties concerning the protection of personal information. However, it carries penalties of up to two years in prison or fines up to 1 million yen for government employees who improperly provide files containing personal information to others.

It would bar the minister in charge of personal information protection from interfering in freedom of expression, and academic, religious and political activities.

The tripartite ruling coalition hopes the House of Representatives will approve the package by the end of the month and send it to the House of Councilors.