Argentina: Pulling YOUR money out of the bank could get you 15 years

(Reuters) - Argentina enacted a law on Wednesday providing a wide definition of terrorism that critics fear will allow the state to jail people for up to 15 years for activities as diverse as marching in protests or pulling money out of banks.

The law, approved by Congress last week, seeks to punish anyone who "terrorizes" the population, leaving the definition of the term open.

The government of recently re-elected President Cristina Fernandez says the measure is needed to meet anti-money-laundering standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force, a multinational policy-making body.

Argentine anti-money-laundering chief Jose Sbatella said recently the measure sought to prevent "any group of economically powerful people from working in concert to wipe out the country's reserves or from terrorizing the population in a way that it induces them to withdraw all their deposits."

Legal experts in Argentina says the law's language leaves the definition of terrorism so open that local courts are sure to strike it down.

"The problem is in the ambiguity," constitutional lawyer Felix Lon told Reuters.

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