G8 protesters rally again in Sapporo

SAPPORO, Japan, July 6 (UPI) -- Protesters at the G8 summit took to the streets of Sapporo, Japan, for a second day Sunday, the day after police said they arrested four marchers.

Sunday's crowd of leftists, anti-globalization activists and right-wing counter-protesters was more relaxed than the previous day's gathering in which helmeted riot police scuffled with about 5,000 protesters, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Those confrontations resulted in four arrests, including that of a media photographer, and brought accusations of heavy-handed tactics. the British newspaper said.

"We were surprised by the excessive force used by police in (Saturday's) demonstration," Ko Watari, of Watch, a Japanese legal network, told the newspaper. "This was a non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place, or even appeared likely to take place."

Sapporo police arrested an extremist right-wing protester Sunday for threatening a crowd of leftists as they marched through the city, the Telegraph said. The city, the largest on the island of Hokkaido, is about 60 miles from the summit in Toyako.