The state-controlled news agency, Fana, released a statement in which it said the Ethiopian Authorities have arrested more than 1,500 people since it declared a state of emergency two weeks ago.
According to the Guardian UK, a body set up by authorities to oversee the SOE called, The Command Post, said 1,120 people have been arrested in towns south of Addis Ababa for violence and property damage.
302 people were arrested in the town of Guji and another 110 in the area of Kelem while authorities seized weapons according to statements on Fana’s website.
About 50 people were arrested for “trying to deny service” by closing their businesses or calling for strikes in the Amhara region, and three teachers were detained for “abandoning school”.
The six-month state of emergency comes with a raft of stringent rules.
Foreign diplomats are banned from traveling more than 25 miles outside Addis Ababa, and it is illegal to watch television stations set up by the diaspora.
Posting links from these organizations’ websites on social media has been declared a “criminal activity”.
The state of emergency was imposed after a surge in violence following a stampede at an Oromo religious festival that killed more than 50 people on October 2nd, which was blamed on police firing tear gas at anti-government protesters.
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