Ethiopian Police Arrests Tik-Tokers Over Dress Style During “Tiktok Creative Award”

Borkena

Toronto – Ethiopian Federal Police on Tuesday announced that it has arrested five Tik-Tokers over dress style during ” TikTok Creative Award” last week. 

Police described their dress style as something that is against the Ethiopian cultural and ethical values. 

They were dressed exposing their bodies to the public and appearing on a live television show.  And the men were dressed in ladies’ dresses. 

The Tik-Tokers are identified as :

1) Wongelawit Gebre Endrias Berhe
2) Bereket Tsegaye JIfar
3) Mekdim Dereje Mengistu
4) Girum Gezaghene Kechine
5) Yohannes Mekonnen Hailemariam 

The Federal police said that it has started investigating the suspects. 

The event was a scheduled one and police action  apparently came after social media outrage from Ethiopians. 

There is a noticeable skepticism that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s “Prosperity Party” is meticulously demolishing Ethiopian culture in the service of western powers.  His government has been getting financial and diplomatic supports despite pilled up records of rights abuse including rape, as indicated in the story recently published by BBC, in the parts of the country where there is active conflict. 

However, police action on the Tik Tokers has got support from Ethiopians as seen from extensive conversations on social media. Yet, there seems to be mistrust that police will not follow through with its action. 

Police said “it will strengthen its action to ensure legal accountability” and rigorous investigation.  It is painting a picture that it has a commitment to protect the society from the “expansion of imported cultures and unethical dressing.”

Program sponsors are also facing legal consequences.

Ethiopians on social media seem to be increasingly suspicious of the fame of some social media personalities. Some tend to see it as an outcome of “algorithmic manipulation” with the aim to promote “liberal values” in the country by exploiting the promoted social media sensations. 

In a related development, Sofonias Wasihun, a journalist, was attacked in Adama – about 100 kilometers east of the capital Addis Ababa. He was apparently chatting with a man for a “date”  and the person who invited him to Adama which was meant to be a homosexual date. Upon arrival, the person who was meant to have a “romantic” time was attacked. As it turns out, he was set up after suspicions emerged that he was a homosexual which is a criminal offence in Ethiopia. 

The attack was video recorded and released on social media. According to sources, he initially wrote on his facebook page that he was attacked in Nazret by robbers. Yet, a video and photo of him purportedly depicting his sexual life was released on social media. 

He was working for Asham Television. The station has announced on Tuesday that it has terminated him as of Hidar 29 (December 08). 

He is said to be currently following a spiritual healing in unspecified location in the country. 

Apparently, conquering the Ethiopian culture intensified after Abiy Ahmed became prime minister in 2018, and opposition parties have been resisting policy manipulations, that endanger societal values, tied to “aid” programs. However, there was a recorded history of sodomizing orphaned children by Terre des Hommes, which was operating in the country as “charity”  during Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Some of the personnels, who were reportedly from Canada, were arrested at the time. 

__

Support Borkena  : https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/

Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena

Like borkena on Facebook

Borkena Ethiopian News Youtube Channel

To submit Press Release, send submission to info@borkena.com

Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory  

Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter)  @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly.