[JURIST] Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi [BBC profile] has denied allegations [press release] from Amnesty International that the government has unlawfully detained thousands of protestors as part of the latest anti-government crackdown. Amnesty has said that thousands of students from the Orono ethnic group have been detained in connection with protests over last year's disputed elections [JURIST report] and that eleven of the detainees face a risk of torture or ill treatment. The Ethiopian Information Ministry [official website] responded by saying that the government has actually arrested a much smaller number on criminal charges for violent acts, and called the thousands of detainees number "misinforming and incredible". Reuters has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase…

• Ethiopia election protesters challenge court jurisdiction
• Ethiopian election protesters claim lawyers denied them
• Ethiopian election protestors call hunger strike over continued detention
• Ethiopia releases 2,400 election protestors from prison
• Ethiopia ending ban on election protests
• Ethiopia releases 2,600 election demonstrators from prison
• Ethiopia releases 336 prisoners seized during elections unrest
• Rights groups warns of killings, mass arrests in Ethiopia at vote fraud protests