MALINDI, Kenya: A Kenyan court on Tuesday charged the leader of a starvation cult and dozens of suspected accomplices with murder over the deaths of nearly 200 people in a forest near the Indian Ocean.
Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who has already been charged with terrorism, manslaughter as well as child torture and cruelty, is alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus.”
On Tuesday, Mackenzie and 29 other suspects pleaded not guilty to 191 counts of murder, according to court documents seen by AFP.
A 31st suspect was deemed to lack the mental fitness to stand trial and ordered to return to the Malindi High Court in a month’s time.
The cult leader has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
He was arrested in April last year after bodies were found in the Shakahola forest, with the grisly discoveries provoking horror across the world.
Autopsies revealed that the majority of the 429 victims had died of hunger.
But others, including children, appeared to have been strangled, beaten or suffocated.
The case, dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre,” led the government to flag the need for tighter control of fringe denominations.
A largely Christian nation, Kenya has struggled to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that dabble in criminality.
Court documents have described Good News International Ministries founded by Mackenzie as “an organized criminal group (which) engaged in organized criminal activities,” leading to the death of hundreds of followers.
Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie managed to evade law enforcement despite a history of extremism and previous legal cases.
A Senate commission of inquiry reported in October that the father of seven had faced charges in 2017 for extreme preaching.
He was acquitted of charges of radicalization in 2017 for illegally providing school teaching after rejecting the formal educational system that he claimed was not in line with the Bible.
In 2019, he was also accused of links to the death of two children believed to have been starved, suffocated and then buried in a shallow grave in Shakahola. He was released on bail pending trial.
There are more than 4,000 churches registered in the East African country of 53 million people, according to government figures.
Previous efforts to regulate religious institutions in Kenya have been fiercely opposed as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for the division of church and state.
Kenya cult leader charged with 191 counts of murder: court
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Kenya cult leader charged with 191 counts of murder: court
- Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie alleged to have incited hundreds of his acolytes to starve to death in order to ‘meet Jesus’
Amsterdam university cancels classes after violence erupted at a pro-Palestinian rally
- Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry
- The protest was one of many that sprung up around Europe following rallies across college campuses in the United States
THE HAGUE: The University of Amsterdam canceled classes Tuesday and shut buildings for two days after the latest pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the war in Gaza turned destructive.
Protests continued to simmer at several European universities where students faced off with academic authorities on whether relations with Israel should be broken off or drastically reduced, as the death toll continues to climb during the seven-month Israel-Hamas war.
Overall, the protests in Europe have failed to reach the intensity of demonstrations at several US universities.
In the Netherlands, the board at the nearly 400-year old University of Amsterdam issued a statement saying it could not guarantee the safety of anyone on campus after a group of masked agitators barricaded doors and spray painted slogans on the walls.
The mayhem on Monday followed a peaceful walkout of staff and students against the Israel-Hamas war and the university’s response to earlier protests.
“They (the university) called in the police after people wouldn’t remove their face coverings but the police came in balaclavas,” political science professor Enzo Rossio told The Associated Press, describing Monday’s events. He had returned to his office following the walkout, only for the building to be evacuated minutes later.
While standing outside the building, Rossio said he and his wife, who also works for the university, were repeatedly hit by police with batons.
Last week, police used a bulldozer to evict demonstrators from an encampment established by students who want the university to cut ties with Israel. The protest was one of many that sprung up around Europe following rallies across college campuses in the United States.
Smaller demonstrations have taken place against the war, both at the University of Amsterdam and at other Dutch universities. But last week’s protest grew into the thousands, with demonstrators chanting slogans including, “Palestine will be free!” and “Cops off campus!”
Riot police were called in multiple times to end the demonstrations, leading to aggressive confrontations. “I’ve never witnessed this kind of violence,” history student Marin Kuijt said in an interview. Kuijt said he had regularly attended climate change marches and joined the walkout on Monday to protest against the university and police response.
After the walkout, some students set up tents inside buildings, intending to occupy the spaces until the university listened to their demands. According to the University of Amsterdam, the peaceful protest was “hijacked by violent elements” who left behind “wanton destruction.”
Higher education institutions in the Netherlands published guidelines on Tuesday for student protests. They include a ban on remaining overnight, occupying buildings and wearing face coverings. Last week, the University of Amsterdam already announced it would not hold talks with any protester who refused to show their face.
In a statement, Amsterdam Student Encampment, which is organizing some of the demonstrations, said it was concerned about outside elections causing destruction, saying it “overshadowed” the protests. The group is calling for more demonstrations at the university in the coming days.
Smaller students actions were held in Belgium, Greece and Italy, among other EU nations.
UK Mideast minister: Israel’s actions leaving its allies ‘pretty challenged’
- Lord Ahmad: Many are uneasy about adherence to international humanitarian law
- UK FM opposes arms ban despite ‘grave concerns around humanitarian access issue in Gaza’
LONDON: The UK’s Middle East minister has warned that the war in Gaza is causing Israel’s allies numerous problems over allegations that it has broken international humanitarian law, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“I think Israel is really leaving many of its partners, including ourselves, pretty challenged on where we are currently on the issue of IHL, and how they are fulfilling their obligations,” Lord Ahmad told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
“Israel has obligations. We are allies of Israel and as a constructive friend to Israel, we’d land these points very directly to them.”
On Sunday, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said an arms ban against Israel would not be “a wise path.”
In April, he said the UK’s stance on selling arms to Israel was “consistent with the advice that I and other ministers have received, and as ever we will keep the position under review.
“Let me be clear, though, we continue to have grave concerns around the humanitarian access issue in Gaza.”
UK law requires a ban on the sale of weapons to states that breach or fall short of adhering to international humanitarian law.
So far Canada, Japan, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands have suspended arms sales to Israel. The UK’s main opposition Labour Party called for a halt on exports this week.
8 dead, at least 40 injured as farmworkers’ bus overturns in central Florida
- The bus was transporting 53 farmworkers at about 6:40 a.m. when it collided with a truck
- The workers were being transported to Cannon Farms in Dunellon
FLORIDA: A bus carrying farmworkers in central Florida overturned on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring about 40 other passengers, authorities said.
The bus was transporting 53 farmworkers at about 6:40 a.m. when it collided with a truck in Marion County, north of Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Authorities say the bus swerved off State Road 40, a straight but somewhat hilly two-lane road that passes through farms. It crashed through a fence and ended up on its side in a field. The workers were being transported to Cannon Farms in Dunellon, which has been harvesting watermelons.
Photos taken by the Ocala Star-Banner at the scene show the bus lying on its side with both its emergency rear door and top hatch open. The truck that hit it shows extensive damage to its driver’s side.
There is no immediate indication that weather was a factor.
“We will be closed today out of respect to the losses and injuries endured early this morning in the accident that took place to the Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp.,” Cannon Farms announced on its Facebook page. “Please pray with us for the families and the loved ones involved in this tragic accident. We appreciate your understanding at this difficult time.”
Cannon Farms describes itself as a family owned commercial farming operation that has farmed its land for more than 100 years, focusing now on peanuts and watermelons, which it sends to grocery stores across the US and Canada.
No one answered the phone at Olvera Trucking on Tuesday afternoon. The company had recently advertised for a temporary driver to bus workers to watermelon fields. The driver would then operate harvesting equipment. The pay was $14.77 an hour.
Harvard students end protest as university agrees to discuss Middle East conflict
- The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands”
- Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.
The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.” Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions.
Students at many college campuses this spring set up similar encampments, calling for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.
The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives, and Israel’s military has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.
The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world’s largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.
The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda including discussions on disclosure, divestment, and reinvestment, and the creation of a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.
“Since its establishment three weeks ago, the encampment has both broadened and deepened Palestine solidarity organizing on campus,” a spokesperson for the protesters said. “It has moved the needle on disclosure and divestment at Harvard.”
At least 15 injured in Russian strike on high-rise in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
- A fire broke out at another strike site, and at least ten garages were affected
KYIV: A Russian air attack on Kharkiv city center in Ukraine hit a high-rise residential building, injuring at least 15 people, including two children, local officials said on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear what kind of weapon was used in the strike, but it landed on the 10th floor of the 12-story apartment block, officials said on Telegram.
Ihor Terekhov, the city’s major, said rescuers were searching for the injured.
One person was hospitalized in a serious condition, Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, added.
A fire broke out at another strike site, and at least ten garages were affected, Syniehubov said.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and the surrounding region have long been targeted by Russian attacks but the strikes have become more intense in recent months, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure.
