Paul Mackenzie, a Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers, who were members of the Good News International Church, to starve themselves to death in Shakahola forest, sits in the dock at the Malindi Law Courts in Malindi, Kilifi, Kenya January 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 29 associates were charged on Tuesday with the murder of 191 children whose bodies were found among more than double that number buried in a forest.
The defendants all denied the charges brought before a court in the coastal town of Malindi. One suspect was found mentally unfit to stand trial.
Prosecutors say Mackenzie ordered his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so that they could go to heaven before the world ended. More than 400 bodies were exhumed from the Shakahola forest.
Mackenzie was arrested last April after the bodies started to be discovered. He has already been charged with terrorism-related crimes, manslaughter and torture.
There have been different charges brought before different courts in connection with the killings.
(Reporting by Aaron Ross, Writing by Bhargav Acharya, Editing by Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie)
