A man in a penguin costume was detained by St. Petersburg police at the sanctioned opposition rally on Saturday, March 24.

      Traditional weekend rally "For Fair Elections" has gathered about 1,000 protesters. The action was held peacefully, though the police detained several people, among them some of the rally's organizers. 

      There was also a group of four people who the organizers said were suspected to be provocateurs from the Kremlin youth movement. They included the man wearing penguin costume and were standing near the Gorkovskaya metro station, at a meeting point for the participants of the rally. "The penguin" was holding a banner “Hamsters? Penguins? Who are we?” referring to the popular mocker of the opposition activists, “hamsters.”

      When the group refused to leave, police detained them on suspicion of provocation.

      The rally included the participants' march through the Alexandrovsky Square and the Kamennoostrovsky Avenue and a concluding gathering at the Field of Mars Square. There the organizers estimated about 3,000 people participating.

      Opposition speakers called on St. Petersburg mayor, Georgy Poltavchenko to resign his commission, as he isn't an elected official and people have no confidence in him. There were also demands to free political prisoners. 

Sources: baltinfo Vedomosti Lenta.ru Image: gazeta.spb.ru