Tunisia probes students over video
2013-02-25 14:27
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Tunis - Tunisian authorities have ordered a probe into the
staging of a "Harlem Shake" show in a Tunis suburb by students who
dance wildly and imitate sexual acts, after a video recording went viral on the
internet.
"The ministry of education has demanded an
investigation and the department will take appropriate measures,"
Education Minister Abdellatif Abid said on private Radio Mosaique.
He said there could be possible "expulsions" of
students or "sacking" of educational staff who were behind the
staging of the dance.
Video footage, which shows participants smoking, dancing
wildly in uncoordinated manner and simulating sexual acts, has spread on the internet,
with dozens of different versions attracting millions of views.
The dance was purportedly staged by students from Menzah 6
district of Tunis in a school compound, with some dancing in shorts and others
wearing fake beards and tunics showcasing proponents of radical Salafist
movement.
The secular opposition regularly accuses Tunisia's ruling
Islamist party Ennahda of allowing a slow Islamisation of the society.
The education minister is a member of Ettakatol, a
centre-left secular ally of Ennahda.
The incident comes as more and people around the world
emulate the "Harlem Shake" craze, which was sparked by a group of
Australian teenagers who uploaded a 31-second clip "The Harlem Shake v1
(TSCS original)" onto YouTube earlier this month. It has since been viewed
almost 16 million times.
