Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law a controversial security bill which saw MPs trade blows in parliament.
It was passed on Thursday Dec 18,2014 during a chaotic parliamentary session, with opposition MPs warning that Kenya was becoming a "police state"
The opposition, civil society groups and the media have all said they will go to court to challenge the legislation
The government has said it needs more powers to fight militant Islamists threatening Kenya's security.
The new anti-terror legislation gives the security and intelligence agencies the right to detain terror suspects for up to one year and requires journalists to obtain police permission before investigating or publishing stories on domestic terrorism and security issues.
Anti-terror measures
- Bans publishing or broadcasting of "insulting, threatening, or inciting material", images of dead or injured people "likely to cause fear" and information that undermines security operations (this covers social media). Punishable by a fine of $55,000, a three-year jail term or both
- Terror suspects can be held for questioning for 360 days
- Limits number of refugees and asylum seekers to 150,000 - those applying for refugee status not allowed to leave camps
- Sets up National Counter-Terrorism Centre to co-ordinate security agencies' efforts
- Public officials found guilty issuing irregular IDs or allowing irregular entry into the country liable to a minimum of 15 years in jail
- Person in charge of a premises where weapons recovered may face up to 30 years in prison
- Person promoting ideology based on violence to advance political, religious or social change may face up to 14 years in jail
- Person who forcibly strips someone is liable to a minimum of 10 years in prison
This follows several incidents of women have their clothes ripped off and being sexually abused by a group of men in public.
Thursday's special parliamentary sitting, which turned into mayhem live on television, shocked many Kenyans
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