The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult, Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, went on trial Monday in Mombasa on terrorism charges linked to the deaths of over 400 followers. The trial includes 94 co-defendants. Journalists were removed to protect a witness.
Mackenzie, arrested in April last year, is accused of urging his followers to starve to death to “meet Jesus.”
He and his co-accused pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges in January and face additional charges of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and child cruelty.
Over 440 bodies have been found in a remote area near Malindi, in what is called the “Shakahola forest massacre.”
Autopsies on 100 bodies showed starvation as the main cause of death, but some victims were strangled, beaten, or suffocated. Some bodies also had organs removed.