(Santo Domingo) A Haitian citizen accused of having “disrespected” President Luis Abinader in a message published on the social network TikTok was arrested Thursday, police announced Friday.
“An undocumented Haitian citizen, who disrespected Dominican President Luis Abinader on the TikTok network, was arrested Thursday afternoon,” the national police announced in a press release, specifying that the man “was located […] by agents of the Intelligence Directorate (Dintel)” who followed his TikTok account.
“Abinader […] you have a bible on the shield of your flag, but I tell you one thing: you do not deserve to have a shield with a bible,” Jude Charles, 44, wrote on Wednesday, referring to the treatment inflicted on Haitian immigrants by the Dominican authorities.
“We don’t have the Bible (on the flag), but you have to know that we have more respect, we respect where we are going. We always have our heads down, but it is not out of fear, it is out of respect,” added Mr. Charles.
Mr. Charles published this message when the Dominican Republic had just threatened to close its border with Haiti in retaliation for its neighbor’s construction of a canal drawing water from the Massacre River, a small river which constitutes the one of the natural borders between the two countries which share the island of Hispaniola.
The border was finally closed on Thursday and a major security system was deployed.
The two countries maintain tense relations, particularly due to the immigration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic.
Luis Abinader, candidate for his succession in 2024, has made relations with Haiti one of his electoral hobbyhorses.
He launched the country in the construction of a wall between the two countries to prevent illegal immigration and his government regularly carries out expulsions of immigrants, widely criticized by human rights NGOs.