Photos: Greenpeace protests at Arctic Circle conference in Iceland

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Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, lobbying for the release of the "Arctic 30," protesters who were imprisoned by Russia and charged with piracy. With him is Swedish Sami native Josefina Skerk. Oct 13, 2013

As the standoff between Russia and Greenpeace ramped up this weekend over 30 jailed activists and journalists, the environmental group led a protest at the opening of an international Arctic conference in Iceland.

The protesters were arrested Sept. 18 and charged at first with piracy after a protest staged against Russian-owned oil company Gazprom and its offshore drilling efforts in the Pechora Sea in Russia's northwest Arctic.

Starting Friday night, about a dozen Greenpeace activists -- several dressed in polar bear costumes -- demonstrated at the opening reception of the first Arctic Circle conference, an international gathering of some 1,000 business leaders, government officials and others with interests in the Arctic. The conference is happening this weekend in Iceland's capital.

READ MORE: Greenpeace protests at Arctic conference, decrying Russia's detention of activists