邪教头目保罗·麦肯齐因在肯尼亚海岸的沙卡霍拉森林于2021年1月至2023年9月期间谋杀190名儿童和1名成年人，被判处总计200年监禁。蒙巴萨高等法院对麦肯齐判处两个独立的100年徒刑，区分了因饥饿致死的受害者和因窒息、勒死或钝器创伤直接被杀害的受害者。刑期将连续执行。法官戴安娜·莫查切还判处其其他29名共犯100年至160年不等的监禁，罪名相同。
Cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been sentenced to a total of 200 years in prison for the murder of 190 children and one adult in the Shakahola Forest, on the Kenyan coast, between January 2021 and September 2023. The High Court in Mombasa imposed two separate 100-year prison terms on Mackenzie, distinguishing between victims who died through starvation and those who were directly killed through suffocation, strangulation or blunt force trauma. The sentences will run consecutively. Justice Diana Mochache also sentenced his 29 other co-accused to between 100 to 160 years' imprisonment for the same offences.
法院于10月19日认定麦肯齐及其同伙犯有谋杀罪，罪行涉及其“好新闻国际教会”成员的死亡，这些人遵照麦肯齐的指示绝食，相信这能在世界末日来临前将他们带上天堂。在宣判时，法官发表了令人心碎的言论，请求法庭在场人员思考麦肯齐最年幼受害者难以想象的痛苦。
The court found Mackenzie and his accomplices guilty of murder on 19 October over the deaths of members of his Good News International Church, who starved themselves on Mackenzie's instruction in the belief it would take them to heaven before the world ended. In harrowing remarks as she handed down the sentences, the judge asked those in court to think about the unimaginable suffering of the youngest of Mackenzie's victims.
“请想一想那个婴儿……一个孩子，一个微小的生命，仅在人世间停留了短短12天，从出生那一刻起就被剥夺了母乳，带着尚未愈合的脐带残端，被遗弃在酷热中枯萎，”她说。“12天微弱、渐逝的啼哭，直到最后安静的一口气，一个新生儿降生在焦土干旱之地，直接从分娩走入痛苦的死亡。
"Consider the infant... A child, a tiny life, just 12 brief days upon the earth, denied the mother's milk from the moment of its birth, with a raw and unhealed umbilical cord still clinging to its frame, left to shrivel in the heat," she said. "Twelve days of weak, failing cries until the quiet final breath, a new born child delivered in the scorched dry land, straight from labour into agonising death.
“请想一想那161名幼童和10岁以下的儿童，在一个男人无情的命令下，在尘土中慢慢消瘦，他们干裂的小嘴，空空的胃袋，徒劳地哭喊着要吃要喝，忍受着日复一日漫长、难以忍受、剧烈的痛苦，在只给予冷酷命令的眼神中寻找安慰。”
"Consider the 161 toddlers and young children under the age of 10 slowly wasted in the dirt by the merciless command of a man, their small lips cracked, their stomachs hollow, crying out for food and water in vain, enduring days of lingering, intolerable, agonising pain, searching for comfort in the eyes that offered only a cold command."
“本法庭的判决必须与他们的罪行之黑暗相称，适用法律规定的最高刑罚，”她补充道。
"The sentences of this court must match the darkness of their deeds, the maximum penalty of the law," she added.
“剥夺他们的自由，终身监禁，永远将他们从人性光辉中移除，这是对针对人类中最无助者所犯下的骇人罪行的永久判决。”她说，被告毫无悔意。“然而在法庭前，没有悲伤的泪水落下，肇事者昂首挺立，毫无愧疚，不以为悔，在盲目而傲慢的狂热中宣称他们的孩子在天堂，他们已准备好追随。”她说。欧洲多架航班再收炸弹威胁 法国载童大巴车祸致两死法官莫查切宣读一份由缓刑官编写的报告时说，麦肯齐仍然是该运动的“思想影响者”。
"Stripping them of liberty, confinement for life, removes forever from the light of human grace, a permanent sentence for the horrific crimes committed against the most defenceless of the human race." She said the defendants showed no remorse. "Yet before this court, not tears of sorrow fall, the perpetrators stand with unbent necks, devoid of guilt, unbothered by remorse, declaring in their blind and arrogant zeal that their children are in heaven and they are ready to follow," she said. More bomb threats made against flights in Europe Two dead after bus carrying children crashes in France Reading from a report compiled by a probation officer, Justice Mochache said Mackenzie continues to be the "ideological influence behind the movement".
她补充道：“特别令人担忧的是，他仍坚持与该职位相关的信仰。”她说，他否认对这些死亡负责，并指责政府，未对受害者及其家属表达悔意或同情。缓刑官评估他再犯罪风险极高。
She added: "Of particular concern is his continued adherence to the beliefs associated with the office." She said he denied responsibility for the deaths and blamed the government, without expressing remorse or empathy for the victims and their families. The probation officer assessed him as presenting a high risk of reoffending.
麦肯齐的辩护团队表示，他打算对判决提出上诉。麦肯齐还面临恐怖主义相关罪行、过失杀人和酷刑指控。他对所有指控均不认罪。今年1月，他又因在附近一个村庄发现的另外52具尸体被加控谋杀罪。他在该案中同样不认罪。
MacKenzie's defence team said he intends to appeal the sentences. Mackenzie also faces charges of terrorism-related crimes, manslaughter and torture. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. In January this year, he was further charged with the murder of another 52 people found dead at a nearby village. He also pleaded not guilty in that case.
这191名受害者是与该教会有关的400多名死者中的一部分。2023年4月，在一家权利组织向当局举报并营救出部分追随者后，麦肯齐被捕。在曝光麦肯齐过去曾被捕两次却获释后，肯尼亚国内呼吁对宗教组织实施更严格的监管。
The 191 victims were among more than 400 people whose deaths were linked to the church. Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023, after a rights group tipped off authorities and some followers were rescued. There have been calls in Kenya for tougher regulations on religious organisations after it emerged that Mackenzie had been arrested twice in the past but released.