Female Activists Held for Near-Naked Protest near G20 Venue

Female Activists Held for Near-Naked Protest near G20 Venue - Two female animal rights activists were detained Tuesday for staging a near-naked protest near the heavily-guarded venue of this week's G20 summit, South Korean police said. The two members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged a brief demonstration outside the Convention and Exhibition Centre in southern Seoul, which is guarded by heavily-armed police and troops.

Female police officers took away the pair, who were clad only in underwear in frigid winter weather. They carried placards reading "Save the planet. Go vegetarian", and painted images representing the earth's continents on their bodies.

Two members (R) of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) pose for photographers as they stage a naked protest outside the venue of the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul on November 9, 2010. The naked Mother Earth protesters wanted to warn G20 members about hazards of meat production ahead of the November 11-12 summit.

"They are now in custody at a nearby police station for staging an unauthorised protest inside a security zone," a police spokesman told AFP, adding investigators have yet to bring charges against them.

The two were identified as Canadian activist Ashley Fruno, 24, and her Korean colleague Han Sae-Mi, 34. Police have banned protests within a two-kilometre (over one mile) radius of the venue for the summit on Thursday and Friday. PETA claims switching to a vegetarian diet is the most effective way to fight climate change and reduce environmental destruction.

"It's all a bit shocking to be arrested wearing little more than some paint but what the meat industry is doing is far more shocking and detrimental to the planet," Han said in a statement. ( AFP )