Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday tasked Justice Minister Jinen Nagase and Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi with ensuring that the contentious bill to make conspiracy a crime is passed during the Diet session convening Jan. 25. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Nagase separately said the same day he will consider amending the bill in order to win Diet support.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The conspiracy bill was carried over from last year's regular Diet session, when it was strongly condemned by opposition parties as well as citizens' groups, which argued that the legislation -- aimed at pushing mere discussion of crimes -- would enable the government to exert too much control over the public. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'We have to fulfill our obligations as a signatory to the treaty on transnational organized crime. From that point of view, I asked them to consult with the –

parties so the bill can clear the Diet," Abe told reporters.

In 2000, Japan signed the U.N. Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which set guidelines for crime-fighting cooperation. The treaty obliges member countries to enact domestic legislation that establishes conspiracy as a crime.

The conspiracy bill was initially submitted to the Diet in 2003 but was scrapped twice. Deliberations on the latest version submitted last year have gone nowhere amid protests that the legislation would lead to suppression of freedom of thought and expression.

The Justice Ministry claims the legislation is designed to target only organized crimes by groups, including yakuza and fraud rings.