A High Court Judge part-suspended a new Kenyan law yesterday that the government maintains is meant to fight terror but which critics say will be used to crush dissent.

One of the eight affected clauses calls for three-year jail terms or heavy fines for journalists whose reports are deemed to have undermined investigations by the police.

“We cannot limit freedoms and inalienable rights in the pretext of fighting terrorism, which must be done in the confines of the law,” said Judge George Odunga.

He announced the suspensions until the chief justice sets up a three-member bench to determine the new law’s legality.

Kenya has been hit by a string of attacks since it sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabaab, which is waging an insurgency against Somalia’s government.

The Kenyan Defence Force reported yesterday the killing of three al-Shabaab suspects in the town of Lamu on Thursday.