Alleged cult leader Paul Mackenzie faced charges on Wednesday — following an investigation into hundreds of deaths in the isolated Shakahola forest in Kenya.
On Tuesday, Kenyan prosecutors released a statement on the charges, announcing that they had enough evidence to bring charges against 95 suspects. The charges include murder, manslaughter, terrorism charges, child torture charges and assault charges.
Last year, authorities discovered the bodies of 429 people, including the bodies of children in a grave site in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya. Members of Mackenzie’s Good New International Church were allegedly encouraged to move to the remote forest and starve themselves to prepare for the end of the world.
According to CNN’s analysis of the autopsy report, most of the people discovered at the mass grave site died of starvation. However, some of the bodies showed signs “blunt trauma and strangulation.” Many of the victims found in the graves were children, which is why child torture was included among the charges. According to ABC News, roughly 191 of the people found were children, 11 of whom have still not been accounted for.
The cult has been compared to that of Jim Jones, who orchestrated a mass suicide in the remote “Jonestown” settlement in Guyana. The horrific incident has echoed through pop-culture, including in a song by J.Cole.
It’s important to note that Mackenzie has denied the allegations, stating that he shut his church down in 2019. According to the BBC, many of the people currently facing charges were originally considered victims by authorities— highlighting the incredibly complicated dynamics within cults.
Mackenzie is already serving a year-long prison sentence for operating a film studio without a license.