Paul Mackenzie, a Kenyan cult leader, and seven others have been charged with new offenses related to the deaths of 52 people found in shallow graves in southeast Kenya.
Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, is accused of ordering followers to starve themselves and their children to death to reach heaven before the world ended. He has denied the accusations.
The charges come after over 400 bodies were recovered from Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County, Kenya, in one of the world’s biggest cult-related disasters.
Mackenzie and his co-defendants face counts of murder, organized criminal activity, radicalization, and facilitating terrorist acts. They have pleaded not guilty.
