Old photos falsely linked to Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church rift

The post was published on Facebook on February 7, 2023, and has been shared nearly 60 times.

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Screenshot showing the false post, taken on February 14, 2023

Written in Amharic, the post translates to: “These smuggled weapons were found in the house of an Ethiopian Orthodox Church leader who is the deputy chairman of the parish council of a church in Jimma and head of the Jimma branch of Mahbere Kidusanin.”

Jimma is a city in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. “Mahbere Kidusanin” refers to an association of people who strictly commit to Orthodox beliefs.

The post contains three images: one shows a rifle and a grenade launcher; the second shows another rifle along with bullets and a passport; and the third is a portrait of a man wearing a graduation cap and gown.

The Ethiopian government has traditionally maintained a cordial relationship with the Orthodox Church, to which at least 40 percent of the country’s population adheres.

Local media reported that in January, a section of bishops from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church accused the organisation of ethnic discrimination and formed a splinter group. The church declared the dissident group illegal and excommunicated the officials involved.

The rift sparked protests, with supporters of the main church clashing with those from the breakaway group.

On February 9, 2023, the country restricted social media platforms including Facebook, TikTok and Telegram ahead of planned rallies by both sides.

At least eight people died in an attack on a church in southern Ethiopia amid the rift, according to the state body Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

On February 16, 2023, AFP reported that the Orthodox Church said that the crisis had been resolved through “face-to-face discussions" and the rebel clergy reinstated after apologising to the main church leadership.

But the images do not show weapons seized from an Orthodox Church leader’s house.

Old, unrelated images

By conducting reverse image searches, AFP Fact Check found that none of the pictures is recent and that the images of weapons are unrelated to the Orthodox Church rift.

We found the first picture in the AFP photo archives, taken by AFP photographer Roz Gaizka. It shows an AK47 rifle and an RPG-7 grenade launcher displayed by the French Army 4th Special Forces Helicopter Regiment (4th RHFS) in June 2019 in Pau, France.

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The original as seen in AFP’s photo archives

We tracked the second image to an article by the local Ethiopian news site Fana BC where the picture has been online since at least 2021. According to Fana BC, it shows illegal weapons recovered in the Addis Ketema district in Addis Ababa.

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Screenshot of an article on the Fana BC website with the original image

We found the final image of the university graduate on Twitter in a tweet published on February 7, 2023.

The tweet, written in English, included a screenshot of what it said was an Amharic statement from the “Mahibere Kidusan Broadcast Service”.

“Last night, Chairman of Mahbere Qidusan Jimma branch Taye Desalegn was abducted by Oromia Police. His wife was also threatened. People are forbidden to enter Debre Mawi Church. Hundreds of Jimma Orthodox Christians have been abducted and arrested by Oromia forces,” reads the tweet.

With this information, AFP Fact Check contacted a spokeswoman for the Mahbere Kidusa, who confirmed the details.

“The information and photo provided in the posts are correct. Desalegn Taye was released from detention on Monday, February 20 at around 5pm from a police station in Jimma city,” said Meskerem Getachew, adding the charges were unrelated to weapons.