Паул Маккензи 191 хүний амь насыг хөнөөсөн хэрэгт буруутгагдан, баасан гарагт ял сонслоо.
Кенийн Момбаса хотын Дээд шүүх “Сайн мэдээ” олон улсын сүмийн пастор Маккензид 200 жилийн хорих ял оноожээ. Тэрээр дагалдагчдаа Есүстэй уулзахын тулд өлсөж үхэхийг уриалсан хэрэгт 190 хүүхэд, нэг насанд хүрсэн хүний амь насыг хөнөөсөн гэм буруутай нь тогтоогдсон байна.
Шүүгч Диана Каведза Маккензиг дагалдагчдаа алслагдсан газарт нүүлгэн байршуулж, өлсгөлөн зарлахыг тушаасан хэрэгт гол хариуцлага хүлээнэ гэж дүгнэжээ. Түүнтэй хамт харуул, булш ухагч зэрэг 28 дагалдагч нь хэрэгт холбогдсон бөгөөд аравдугаар сарын 19-нд 29 хүнийг бүгдийг нь 191 хүний амь насыг хөнөөсөн хэрэгт гэм буруутайд тооцсон байна.
2023 онд далайн эргийн Килифи мужийн Чакама ранч дахь өнгөц булшнуудаас 400 гаруй хүний цогцос гаргаж авсан бөгөөд 60 гаруй хүнийг таньж, ар гэрийнхэнд нь хүлээлгэн өгчээ. Шүүхийн тайлбарласнаар 183 хүн хоол хүнсгүйдэн өлсөж нас барсан бол найман хүний үхлийг шууд хөнөөсөн хэрэг гэж ангилсан байна.
Каведза аллагуудыг урьдчилан тооцоолж үйлдсэн гэж үзэж, яллагдагчид гэмшиж буйгаа илэрхийлээгүйг тэмдэглэжээ. Маккензигийн туслах пастор Смарт Мвакалама 160 жилийн хорих ял авсан бөгөөд ял сонссон бүх хүнд давж заалдах 14 хоногийн хугацаа олгосон байна.
Маккензиг мөн 200 гаруй хүний үхэлтэй холбоотой терроризм, хүний амь хөнөөсөн хэрэг, хүүхэд хүчирхийлсэн болон тамласан хэргээр өөр хоёр шүүхэд шалгаж байгаа аж. Түүний өмгөөлөгч Лоуренс Обоньо давж заалдах ажиллагааг эхлүүлсэн гэж мэдэгдэж, 160–200 жилийн ял нь бодит байдал дээр бүх насаар хорих ялтай адил гэж маргажээ. Прокурорууд Маккензид цаазаар авах ял, хамсаатнуудад нь бүх насаар хорих ял оноохыг хүссэн байна.
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MOMBASA, Kenya — The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to the deaths of more than 400 people was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people.
The High Court in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa issued the sentence for Pastor Paul Mackenzie. He was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.
Mackenzie is also facing terrorism and manslaughter charges for the more than 200 other victims, as well as child abuse and torture charges in two other courts.
Justice Diana Kavedza said that Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, bore the “primary criminal culpability” for relocating his followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death.
Mackenzie was charged with the murders alongside 28 of his followers, including guards who enforced his fasting directives and gravediggers who helped conceal the mass graves.
All denied the charges, except for one person who confessed and pleaded for leniency.
On Oct. 19, the court found all 29 of them guilty of the murder of 191 people.
In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre Chakama Ranch in coastal Kilifi County, where Mackenzie’s followers lived in mud huts, away from the scrutiny of local communities and authorities.
More than 60 bodies were positively identified and reburied by their relatives, while many others remain unidentified and unclaimed.
During the sentencing, Kavedza said that 183 victims died of starvation, defined as a complete lack of food, and the deaths of the other eight were classified as murder by direct homicide.
Kavedza said the killings were “cold and calculated” and dismissed claims by some of the accused that the loss of their own children altered the fact that they had participated in the killings of many other children.
The justice said that the perpetrators didn’t show remorse and declared they were ready to fast to death as well. During the sentencing, Mackenzie often smiled and chatted with his assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, who was sentenced to 160 years in prison.
All of those who were convicted have been granted 14 days to file an appeal.
The prosecution had argued for the death penalty for Mackenzie and life imprisonment for his accomplices.
Defense lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, who represents Mackenzie and several others who were convicted, told The Associated Press that he had already launched an appeal. He said that the decision was “circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable” since the sentences of between 160 and 200 years amount to life sentences.
A father of seven, Suleiman Ziro, who traveled 75 miles for the sentencing, lost six of his children and his wife to the cult in 2023.
He said that the sentence wasn’t enough, especially because he has yet to recover the bodies of his loved ones, calling for the death penalty in the case.
Those sentenced to death in Kenyan courts serve a life sentence. Kenya’s last execution was in 1987.
