SAINT PETERSBURG (AFX) - Russian riot police broke up a planned march by communist activists protesting against the G8 summit here.
Around 100 communists gathered in the centre of Saint Petersburg despite a ban on any rallies during the summit, which ends Monday.
Eventually they were allowed to hold a meeting in a site four kilometres away but were refused permission to unfurl any banners or chant slogans.
Riot police intervened when some of the activists tried to demonstrate on the street, causing scuffles which led to the arrest of at least 10 people.
Valentin Romanov, a communist deputy in the Russian parliament, criticised the ban on the rally as excessive.
'You have to take security measures but you also have to respect people. These security measures are excessive when the summit is taking place outside Saint Petersburg' he said.
The tight security measures for the G8 summit have also led to a clampdown on anti-globalisation protesters who have been confined to a stadium far from the event. steve.whitehouse@afxnews.com bur-km/sw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited