Kenya starvation cult leader goes on trial on terrorism charges

Pastor Paul Mackenzie and 94 co-defendants face charges of promoting extremism and running a criminal enterprise in Kenya.

The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult went on trial on Monday on charges of terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in a macabre case that shocked the world.

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in a packed courtroom in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 94 co-defendants, accused of promoting an "extremist ideology" and running a well- organised criminal enterprise.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver who was arrested in April last year, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to "meet Jesus" in one of the world's worst cult-related massacres.

The father of seven and his co-accused pleaded not guilty at a hearing in January to charges of engaging in organised criminal activity, radicalisation and facilitating the commission of a terrorist act.

The 55 men and 40 women also face charges of murder, manslaughter, as well as child torture and cruelty in separate cases relating to the deaths which prosecutors say occurred over the years 2020 to 2023.

The remains of more than 440 people have been unearthed in a remote wilderness inland from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi, in a case that has been dubbed the "Shakahola forest massacre".

Autopsies have found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some victims -- including children -- were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.