Greek police detained two human rights activists after they unfurled banners at the Athens Acropolis yesterday opposing the Beijing Winter Olympics as Chinese organizers prepare to receive the Olympic flame.
The activists staged a brief protest at the Acropolis early in the morning, holding up a Tibetan flag and a banner reading "Free Hong Kong - Revolution" at a scaffolding surrounding part of the monument.
The activists - 18-year-old Tibetan student Tsela Zoksang and 22-year-old Joey Siu, a US citizen exiled from Hong Kong - were detained.
The protest was staged hours before a dress rehearsal in Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics, of the torch-lighting ceremony for the Games.
Greek police, with several dozen officers present, were quick to stop the activists.
The Chinese capital will become the first city to host both the Winter and Summer Games when it stages the February 4-20 event but, as was the case with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, protests and calls for boycotts over the country's human rights record have marred the run-up. Rights groups and US lawmakers have called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the Games and relocate the event unless China ends what the United States deems ongoing genocide against Uygurs and other Muslim minority groups.
China denies wrongdoing, saying it has set up vocational training centers to combat extremism.
The dress rehearsal at the ancient stadium of Olympia was hampered by brief spells of rain and heavy clouds, with the torch not being lit by the sun's rays through a parabolic mirror.
More rain is expected today, with human rights activists pledging more actions until tomorrow's flame handover to Chinese Games organizers in Athens.
The two activists protest against the Beijing Winter Games on a scaffolding at the Acropolis. AP
