A court in Shanzu has threatened to release suspected cult leader Paul Mackenzie and his 29 alleged accomplices if the State fails to charge them over the Shakahola massacre within two weeks.
Senior Principal Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda said pre-trial detention had been a long journey that must now come to an end.
“If no decision to charge the respondents will have been made after the expiry of such period (14 days), the court will consider releasing the respondents from custody on terms that will be determined by the court,” said the magistrate.
The magistrate found that the State had had sufficient time to complete its investigation of the suspects and that an additional 180-day extension for the pending charges was therefore unacceptable.
The court granted the State only 14 days to complete any necessary processing should a decision be made to charge.
Mackenzie and the other 29 suspects have been in custody for 117 days since the State applied for a 180-day extension.
The magistrate noted that the application for a further 180 days' detention appeared to have been determined by the passage of time.
“The respondents have been in custody for over three months since the application for extension of custodial orders was filed. It has been a long journey that must come to an end, at least for this phase,” said the magistrate.
The 14 days have been set in recognition of the time and facilities needed to process the charges before the suspects are taken to court.
“This is owing to the number of the respondents and the possible charges that they may face. This processing can only be properly done while the respondents are in custody,” the magistrate said.
The State had asked the court to continue the detention to allow investigators and experts to accurately identify the 429 bodies currently being kept in a makeshift morgue in Malindi.
The State argued that all 131 children who died in Shakahola are related to the 30 defendants in this case and the other 66 survivors who are also being held separately.
“We have the names now for framing charges against the accused. However, we need to establish which name corresponds to which body,” Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Jami Yamina told the court last year while asking for 180 days to hold the suspects.
A social inquiry report has recommended that only six of the Mackenzie supporters can be released on bond pending formal charges and trial.
But the State has maintained that the evidence gathered so far indicates that none of the suspects should be released on bond before or after formal charges are laid against them.
The prosecutor has insisted that, despite the receptiveness of their families, the State fears that the suspects' families are not adequately prepared to deal with them and that they need to be deradicalised before being released back into society.
The State has maintained that the identification of the victims through scientific methods is crucial before any charges are brought against the suspects.
The court has heard that the state has already settled on radicalisation, murder and manslaughter as the possible offences with which the suspects will be charged. The case will be heard on January 23.
However, Mackenzie is currently serving an 18-month sentence for a case in which he was found guilty of using unclassified films to promote his radical teachings. The sentence was handed down in November last year.
