The Prosecutor’s Office had demanded the closure of the case against him so that he can be prosecuted on terrorism charges
May 2. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Kenyan authorities have arrested on Tuesday a leader of a Christian sect accused of the death of more than a hundred of his followers in the north of the country, minutes after a court ordered his release after closing the case for his terrorism charge.
Paul McKenzie, leader of the International Church of Good News, has appeared during the day before a Kenyan court to hear the Prosecutor’s Office request the closure of the case open against him in view of a trial against him for terrorism, among other charges.
The court has accepted the request and has ordered his release, although he has been immediately arrested along with six other suspects in the face of the new process, a decision applauded by the families of the victims and civil society organizations, according to the Kenyan newspaper. ‘The Standard’.
The first autopsies on bodies found in mass graves on land used by the sect in a wooded area in Shakahola, in the Kenyan county of Kilifi, have confirmed that the victims died of starvation, although some were suffocated.
The Kenyan authorities have so far recovered the lifeless bodies of 110 people on these lands, although work continues in the area, so it is not ruled out that the number will continue to increase. The main leaders of the sect urged followers to fast until death under the promise that they will meet Jesus Christ in a new life.
Kenyan President William Ruto has called McKenzie a “terrible criminal”, while the Kenyan Red Cross has begun work to try to locate about 210 people -including some 110 minors- who have been reported missing in connection with the sect’s activities.
