Court censors Kenyan anti-terror laws

KENYA’S High Court has thrown out key aspects of a tough new anti-terrorism law after a legal challenge by the opposition.

Eight clauses were annulled, including those which curbed media freedom and capped the number of refugees and asylum-seekers to 150,000.

The government said the law was needed to counter the growing threat posed by militant Islamists.

The opposition warned that it violated civil liberties.

The BBC’s Maryam Abdalla in the capital, Nairobi, says that the opposition Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) party applauded the ruling, saying it had saved Kenya from becoming a police state.

The government said it would consider lodging an appeal.

Our reporter says the court had ruled in the government’s favour on some controversial clauses.

These included giving Kenya’s intelligence agencies the power to carry out covert operations to prevent attacks and allowing police to detain terror suspects beyond 24 hours, provided they were first brought to court.