Baring breasts and political ideals, 6 women arrested at protest outside Paris’ Louvre Museum

PARIS – The Louvre has always showcased nudes. Never quite like this.

Paris police say they arrested six women Saturday for baring their breasts and more outside the pointy-pyramid entrance to the museum in front of dumbstruck, applauding tourists. They were released after identity checks.

Protest organizer Safia Lebdi says the demonstration was connected to International Women’s Day. She says the women waved flags of Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Iran to highlight the many legal and cultural restrictions imposed on women in the Muslim world.

One of the naked protesters, Amina Sboui, is a former member of a Paris-based exhibitionist group called Femen renowned for its topless protests. Last year Sboui spent more than two months imprisoned in Tunisia for allegedly desecrating a cemetery by writing “Femen” on a wall.