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European gay rights activists beaten and arrested during Moscow protest

Riot police used violence to break up a gay rights demonstration in Moscow on Sunday and arrested several European parliamentarians in what critics say is the latest violation of human rights in Russia.

A group of gay-rights activists came under attack from neo-Nazi thugs when they tried to present a petition asking Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to lift a ban on a Gay Pride parade. He has previously dubbed gay rallies "satanic." Witnesses said riot police watched as far-right skinheads chanting "death to homosexuals" beat up several activists.

The police failed to arrest the skinheads but detained several of the Europeans -- including the German Member of Parliament Volker Beck, a member of the Green party, and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Marco Capatto of Italy. Riot police threw Capatto into a police van.

"Why don't you protect us?" he shouted.

"It was absolutely shocking," the British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said on Sunday. "The police stood there while people knocked me to the ground and kicked me. Four or five neo-Nazis attacked me. The police watched. At a certain point the police then arrested me and let my neo-Nazi attackers walk free."

Religious orthodox protesters and skinheads hurled eggs and stones -- injuring Tatchell in the eye. They also attacked Richard Fairbrass, the gay singer from the pop group Right Said Fred.

"When we were in the police van the police taunted us," Tatchell said after his release. "They said, `Are you a member of the sexual minority?' We said yes. They said,`'We are going to have some fun with you at the police station.' What happened here shows the flawed and failed nature of Russia's transition to democracy. There is no right to protest in Moscow."

The arrest of European parliamentarians is likely to further depress relations between the EU and Russia -- which are at a lowpoint after an acrimonious summit earlier this month. Green party Chairwoman Claudia Roth on Sunday called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to raise the issue of rights with Russian President Vladimir Putin at next month's G8 summit.

The activists had tried to deliver a petition signed by 50 MEPs calling on Moscow's mayor to respect freedom of assembly, but 30 of them were arrested and they did not make it to city hall. Beck was later released. Three Russian gay rights campaigners were kept in custody and charged with disobeying police.
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