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Kenyan court releases cult leader on bail accused of links to over 100 starvation deaths

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Dozens of New Life Church members cheered and sang as their pastor, Ezekiel Odero, was released on Thursday by a Kenyan court. The televangelist was detained last week as part of an investigation into the deaths of dozens of people, whom police say starved themselves to death on the instructions of a cult leader.

A document presented in court last week said police had established that several deaths were recorded at Odero's church and that those bodies may have been moved to a forest about 66 km (40 miles) away, where more than 100 bodies have been exhumed in the past two weeks.

The police believe most of those bodies belong to followers of the cult leader Paul Mackenzie, who is accused of ordering them to starve themselves to death so they would be the first to go to heaven ahead of the world's end. Odero’s defence lawyer, Cliff Ombeta, denied the state's accusations and argued for Odero's release.

In his ruling, Magistrate Joe Omido said that the state had failed to bring enough evidence before the court to reasonably keep him in police custody for another thirty days. Omido granted the release of Odero and ordered him to deposit a non-cash bond of 3 million shillings ($22,000) or alternatively pay bail cash of 1.5 million shillings. Outside, more than 100 of his followers sang praise songs and celebrated the court's decision.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9646673/kenya-cult-starvation-bodies-mass-graves-paul-mackenzie/

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