Leader of Kenyan doomsday cult sentenced to 200 years in prison

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — 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 (320-hectare) 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 120 kilometers (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.

Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie, center, who has been convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult, reacts as he awaits sentencing at the Mombasa High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie, right, who has been convicted on 191 murder charges, sits alongside fellow church members as he awaits sentencing at the Mombasa High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie, center, who has been convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult, sits alongside fellow church members as he awaits sentencing at the Mombasa High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie, center, who has been convicted on 191 murder charges, arrives alongside fellow church members as he awaits sentencing at the Mombasa High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Good News International Church pastor Paul Mackenzie, who has been convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult, awaits for sentencing at the Mombasa High Court in Mombasa, Kenya, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

LONDON (AP) — The European Union accused TikTok of breaching the bloc's digital rules because its algorithm recommends a nonstop stream of personalized videos to users including those that it says could hurt mental health and body image.

The short-video sharing platform must change the design of its “For You” feed so that users have more control over opting out of seeing certain content, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm said Friday.

The platform failed to assess how its recommendation systems could lead people into “rabbit holes” that threaten their well-being, regulators said, by feeding them similar video clips based on what they've previously viewed or liked even if they are "triggering" such as clips about weight loss and mental health struggles.

TikTok said the European Commission's findings are “fundamentally inaccurate and distort our platform’s architecture and our commitment to user safety.”

“We have a strong record of protecting our community while giving users direct and intuitive control over their content experience,” the company said in a statement.

The company will have a chance to respond before the European Commission issues its final decision, which could include a fine of up to 6% of TikTok's total annual revenue.

“Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same, leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, who oversees tech sovereignty, said in a statement.

"Today’s preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ well-being, including those of minors.”

TikTok has added some measures, such as a “not interested” button to reduce the “rabbit hole effect,” but the commission said they're ineffective in reducing how often harmful content is recommended.

European regulators said they want TikTok to make changes to its “For You” feed, including giving more weight to ‘explicit preferences’ of people using the platform, stopping reliance on viewing time as a metric for recommending content, and making user controls more accessible.

It's the latest in a series of enforcement actions targeting TikTok by EU regulators using the bloc's Digital Services Act, a wide-ranging rule book that requires tech companies to adhere to a framework under threat of hefty financial penalties.

The commission opened its investigation into whether TikTok violated the DSA more than two years ago. This year, it has already issued two other sets of preliminary findings, accusing the platform of breaching the rules with “ addictive design ” features that lead to compulsive use by children and charging it with failing to adequately protect children's privacy rights.

European Union flags flap in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)