Jailbird: Protesting pigeon caged

Russian police have caught an enormous bird during an unauthorized opposition march in St. Petersburg. A man dressed in a pigeon suit was detained along with some 50 other protesters.

The Pigeonman has long been a frequenter of opposition rallies, but it was only this Monday that he faced his first arrest. Previously, police had failed to shove him into a van due to his large costume.This time, as local media report, the police let him celebrate his popularity and show off for a while, allowing other activists to take a photo with the Pigeonman. He is said to have appeared this time with a red electric guitar in his wings…er…hands. After that he was captured from out of the crowd and taken to the police bus. It has not been revealed whether they remembered their previous failures and brought a larger vehicle to catch the bird this time. However, activists say the unusual protester is not a member of their movement, but an instigator.Baltinfo website writes that the name of the man in costume was Valery Shevtchenko and he is an activist from the pro-Kremlin Nashi movement. The Nashi movement, however, has also disowned him.