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MELBOURNE - An Australian-born gay rights activist has alleged Moscow police stood by and watched while he was beaten by neo-nazis at a gay pride march in Moscow yesterday.
Peter Tatchell, 55, was in Moscow yesterday for the city's second ever Gay Pride march.
But he said before
the event even started, the 30-to-40 protesters were set upon by up to 200 people who beat them while hundreds of Moscow police stood by and watched.
"Russian orthodox fundamentalists together with right-wing nationalists and neo-nazis attacked the Gay Pride marchers as we assembled outside City Hall," Mr Tatchell said.
"The Moscow police gave them a free hand to assault us at will.
"They (the attackers) roamed amongst the crowd bashing people left, right and centre. The Moscow police stood by and did nothing."
Mr Tatchell said the protesters were "totally overwhelmed" by their attackers, who went on bashing them for about 45 minutes.
"It was terrifying," he said.
"We were all in great fear of our personal safety."
He said he and other protesters tried to flee, as he unfurled a banner reading "Gay Rights" in Russian and English.
"The right-wing gangs set on me, punching me in the eye, they dragged me to the ground where I was kicked and punched.
"The police were standing nearby and did nothing, eventually they moved in, I was arrested while my attackers were allowed to go free."
He alleged police threatened and abused him, before he was sent to hospital and then the police station, where he was questioned and released, again being assaulted outside by "far-right extremists".
He said he was now nursing a badly bruised, swollen and bloodied eye and was bruised all over his body from where he was punched and kicked.
Mr Tatchell said police arrested up to 20 Gay Pride marchers, including march organiser Nikolai Alekseev and German Green Party MP Volker Beck, without giving reason, but only a handful of their attackers were arrested.
He said for the second year in a row, Moscow mayor Yuri Lushkov had banned the Gay Pride march, despite this contravening the Russian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Russia is a signatory.
Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993 but, Mr Tatchell said, the society remained "deeply homophobic".
He said hundreds of bystanders watched the riot yesterday, with many supporting the attackers.
"Today we heard people who said they were members of the Russian Orthodox Church saying all gays should be executed and that this was the Bible's teachings," he said.
"They got a huge cheer from sections of the crowd."
He said activists had felt it was important to take a stand, after last year's attempted march was also besieged by a violent mob.
Mr Tatchell started a lifetime of activism in his hometown of Melbourne, protesting against the death penalty, the Vietnam War and for Aboriginal rights.
He now lives in London, campaigning for human rights and gay rights and standing as a Greens MP at the next British election.
He will leave Moscow tomorrow, but vowed to continue fighting for Russian gay rights.
- AAP