African social media star detained in Turkey
ANKARA
Amir Zakaria, a Central African Republic citizen who became famous in Turkey with his videos on social media, was detained in Ankara on July 3, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The university student, who studies engineering in Turkey, was known as “Zakaria from Çorum,” a city in Central Anatolia.
Zakaria’s comedic videos have been watched hundreds of thousands of times on Vine and YouTube, making him famous enough to appear on Turkish television shows and a movie.
According to Turkish media reports, Zakaria and a fellow YouTuber, Bülent Mert who has over more than 1.5 million followers, were detained in a police raid at their apartment in Ankara’s Çankaya neighborhood.
The Ankara Cyber Crime Unit charged the two of advertising illegal betting websites on their social media accounts and also for appearing in their advertisements.
