Residents of Bishoftu crossing their wrists above their heads as a
symbol for the Oromo anti-government protesting movement during the
Oromo new year holiday Irreechaa in Bishoftu on October 2, 2016. PHOTO |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
More than 1,100 people have been arrested in Ethiopia since the
nation declared a state of emergency following the prime minister's
resignation last month, state media reported Saturday.
Hailemariam
Desalegn's surprise resignation came after more than two years of
anti-government protests and increasing divisions in the ruling party.
The
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has for the
first time picked an ethnic Oromo, Abiy Ahmed, to be its new leader.
He is set to be sworn in as prime minister early next week.
He is set to be sworn in as prime minister early next week.
The
state-affiliated Fana Broadcast Corporate said 1,107 people have been
detained for violating the emergency decree, which suspends the
constitution and allows police to hold people without trial.
"They
were detained for killing peaceful civilians and security forces,
setting houses and financial institutions ablaze, illicit movement of
firearms, destroying government and public institutions (and) blocking
roads," Fana reported, citing Tadesse Hordofa, chairman of a board
overseeing the decree.
Ethiopia spiralled into crisis
in late 2015 when the country's largest ethnicity the Oromo began
protesting a plan to expand the borders of the capital Addis Ababa into
the surrounding Oromia region.
A 10-month state of emergency declared in October 2016 quelled
the unrest but only after hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of
arrests.
The arrests under the latest state of
emergency were mainly in Oromia, but also in the Amhara region, where
anti-government sentiment is also strong, the broadcaster reported.
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