WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eighty people were arrested at the Supreme Court Friday in a protest calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Demonstrators wearing orange jumpsuits intended to simulate prison garb were arrested inside and outside the building in the early afternoon. ''Shut it down,'' protesters chanted as others kneeled on the plaza in front of the court.
They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those arrested inside the building also were charged under a provision that makes it a crime to give ''a harangue or oration'' in the Supreme Court building.
The maximum penalty is 60 days in jail, a fine or both.
The court is considering whether prisoners still detained at Guantanamo Bay have a right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.
Officials briefly closed the court building during the protest. It reopened around 2 p.m. EST.
Protests were also held some other world capitals.
In Manila, Philippines, about 30 activists picketed the U.S. Embassy to demand the camp's closure. ''We are appealing to President Bush and the U.S. government to close Guantanamo Bay now,'' said Aurora Parong, director of Amnesty International in the Philippines.
Small demonstrations by Amnesty supporters, also in orange jumpsuits, were held in Rome; Prague, Czech Republic; Brussels, Belgium; and Budapest, Hungary.
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