A Facebook account shared an image claiming that a child was snatched away from her parents and detained by federal police officers for wearing a dress with a red, green, and yellow color pattern during the Demera celebration. The post was widely shared on social media and HaqCheck received the same claim through its bot.
However, HaqCheck found that the image was old and had been shared before. The image does not show a child at the Demera celebration wearing a dress with a green, yellow, and red pattern that has been snatched away from her parents. As a result, the claim was rated False.
The 1995 FDRE constitution established the flag as having three horizontal stripes in green, yellow, and red, with a yellow interlaced pentagram radiating rays of light on a blue shield.
The Ethiopian flag has been a source of debate, disagreement, and dispute, particularly over the use of the star emblem. Some people want the red, yellow, and green color flag with no star emblem, while others want the official one with the star emblem. Those who don’t want the star emblem are often seen, by the other side, as being against the self-determination rights of the different groups and peoples of Ethiopia.
To maintain peace and order during the Demera celebration, the government, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church have warned people not to bring or wear any unrecognized flags or symbols to the Demera celebration, except for the red-yellow-green flag with the Church’s symbol.
On September 27, 2023, the Federal Police Commission announced that people must adhere to the government’s regulations and guidelines for the event, which includes not bringing any flags or symbols that are not associated with the Demera celebration or the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Against this backdrop, a Facebook account shared an image on social media claiming that a child was snatched away from her parents and detained by federal police officers for wearing a dress with a red, green, and yellow color pattern during the Demera celebration.
HaqCheck investigated the claim and found that the image is not recent and does not support the claim.
The image used in the post was posted in January 2022, and the caption describes the #NoMore movement, which emerged in response to perceived interference by external countries in the internal affairs of Ethiopia during the war between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
HaqCheck found the post to be False because the image used was not accurate.
HaqCheck contacted the person who claimed to get more information, but the person did not respond until after the article was published.
