Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie (heart) walks surrounded by Kenyan law enforcement officials as he seems earlier than the Shanzu Legislation Court docket in Mombasa on January 18, 2024. The chief of a Kenyan apocalyptic cult was set to go on trial on July 8, 2024 on terrorism expenses over the deaths of greater than 400 of his followers in a macabre case that shocked the nation and the world. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court docket within the Indian Ocean port metropolis of Mombasa alongside 94 co-accused, an AFP journalist stated. | Picture credit score: AFP
The chief of a Kenyan apocalyptic cult went on trial Monday on terrorism expenses over the killing of greater than 400 of his followers in a ugly case that shocked the world.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared earlier than a packed court docket within the Indian Ocean port metropolis of Mombasa together with 94 co-defendants, accused of selling an “extremist ideology” and operating a well-organised legal enterprise.
Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who was arrested in April final 12 months, allegedly incited his followers to starve themselves to “meet Jesus” in one of many world’s worst cult-related massacres.
The daddy of seven and his co-defendant pleaded not responsible at a listening to in January to expenses of taking part in organized legal exercise, radicalization and facilitating the fee of a terrorist act.
The 55 males and 40 ladies additionally face expenses of homicide, manslaughter, in addition to little one torture and cruelty in separate circumstances associated to the deaths that prosecutors say occurred between 2020 and 2023.
The stays of greater than 440 individuals have been unearthed in a distant, wilderness space inland from the Indian Ocean coastal city of Malindi in a case that has been dubbed the “Shakahola Forest Bloodbath”.
Autopsies have discovered that whereas hunger gave the impression to be the principle reason for loss of life, some victims, together with youngsters, have been strangled, overwhelmed or suffocated.
Earlier court docket paperwork additionally stated among the our bodies had had their organs eliminated.
‘Ruthless effectivity’
Chief Justice of the Peace Leah Juma ordered journalists out of the court docket shortly after the listening to started to permit a protected witness to take the stand behind closed doorways.
Prosecutors stated in a press release they deliberate to name about 90 witnesses to testify and deliberate a go to to the huge crime scene.
“The prosecution will current proof to point out that the defendants didn’t merely operate as a fringe group, however fairly as a well-organized legal enterprise working underneath the guise of a church underneath the management of (Mackenzie),” the assertion stated.
He alleged that Mackenzie oversaw an “intricate system of presidency” that included an armed militia that carried out his directives with “ruthless effectivity.”
Mackenzie was arrested the day after police first entered Shakahola Forest in April final 12 months and located 4 our bodies and several other extra ravenous individuals.
The police motion got here after a relative of one of many victims obtained a tip from a former member of Mackenzie’s Good Information Worldwide Church about terrifying occasions within the woods.
Mackenzie had based the church in 2003 however stated he closed it in 2019 and moved to the quiet city of Shakahola to organize for what he had predicted could be the tip of the world in August final 12 months.
In March this 12 months, authorities started handing over the our bodies of some victims to their distraught kin after months of painstaking work to establish them by DNA.
Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed pastor with a historical past of extremism, managed to evade legislation enforcement regardless of his excessive profile and former authorized circumstances.
Residence Minister Kithure Kindiki final 12 months accused Kenyan police of negligence in investigating preliminary reviews of famine.
“The Shakahola bloodbath is the worst safety breach within the historical past of our nation,” he advised a Senate committee listening to, vowing to “relentlessly push for authorized reforms to rein in rogue preachers.”
Stories by the Kenyan Senate and a state-funded human rights watchdog have stated authorities might have prevented the deaths.
In March, the Kenya Nationwide Fee on Human Rights (KNCHR) criticised Malindi safety officers for “flagrant abdication of obligation and negligence”.
The horrific saga unfolding in Kenya, a predominantly Christian nation, has highlighted failed efforts to control unscrupulous church buildings and sects which have turned to criminality.