LONDON, June 1, 2007  —  Moscow police confirm that they have opened a criminal investigation into the assault on British gay human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, at last Sunday's Moscow Gay Pride event.

But official police claims that they have arrested the right-wing extremist who punched Mr Tatchell in the face are untrue, according to the investigating officer.

In another development, there are allegations that Moscow police are trying to pin the assault on three right-wingers who may be innocent of any involvement.

“I have been informed by police officer Evgeni Guskov, who is based at Moscow's Tverskaya police station, that a criminal investigation has been opened into the assault on me.  Mr Guskov was the officer who took my witness statement on Monday 28 May,” said Mr Tatchell in a lengthy statement.

“In a press statement issued on 27 May, Moscow police spokesperson, Evgeni Gildeyev, claimed that the man who punched me had been identified and arrested.  This is untrue, according to officer Guskov.  He told me that the assailant is unknown and has not been arrested.

“The false claim that the police have arrested my attacker looks like a public relations ploy to convince people that the Moscow police are taking action.  It appears to be a crude bid to placate international indignation over the police failure to protect me and other Gay Pride participants.

“I have little confidence that the assailant will be arrested and put on trial.  Too many Moscow police are homophobes and fascist sympathisers.  They failed to protect us against neo-Nazi violence and they failed to arrest the thugs who attacked us.

“At last year's attempted Moscow Gay Pride march, the German Green Party MP, Volker Beck, was struck in the face by a rock thrown by a right-wing extremist.  The assailant was filmed attacking Mr. Beck.  In the Russian edition of Newsweek, he was named and was quoted as boasting that he threw the rock.  He has never been arrested, let alone bought to court.

“The Moscow authorities protect the far right, even when they commit violent hate crimes and make a public confession.

“I am very concerned by allegations that Moscow police want to charge people with attacking me, when they may be innocent.  The desire to charge these men may not secure justice.  It could have more to do with rescuing the tarnished reputation of the Moscow police.

“Even if these men are fascists and homophobes, I oppose people being framed on false charges of assaulting me.  That is wrong.

“I did not see the man who punched me in the eye.  I was looking the other way.  I did not see the right-wing extremists who knocked me to the ground and kicked me.  I cannot identify the assailants.

“A man in a brownish camouflage t-shirt attacked me twice before I was punched in the eye.  He shoved me in front of City Hall and punched me soon afterwards on the other side of Tverskaya street.  He looked like the man who was photographed as he raised his arm to punch me in the face.

“As a result of the violence against me, I have some minor concussion, slightly affecting my balance, coordination, memory and concentration.  The vision in my right eye is damaged and blurred.  Nevertheless, doctors expect that I will make a full recovery within a couple of weeks or so.

“These physical inconveniences are nothing by comparison to the savage injuries often inflicted on human rights defenders in Columbia, Russia, Iraq, Burma, Zimbabwe, Iran and Egypt,” said Mr. Tatchell.

OTHER MOSCOW PRIDE 2007 COVERAGE

Moscow Pride:  A Photo Essay.  Eight photographs from l Moscow Pride. 2007

Principal Moscow Gay Pride Organiser Alekseev Also Guilty.  The main organiser of Moscow Gay Pride was today found guilty of disobeying police officers while breaching traffic rules on May 27 as he and other activists, including European parliamentarians tried to deliver a petition to Moscow City Hall signed by around 50 Members of the European Parliament.  (UK Gay News, June 9)

Moscow Gay Pride Organiser Khramov Found Guilty.  One of the three organisers of Moscow Pride has escaped a jail sentence and was fined when found guilty this afternoon in a Moscow court which threw-out evidence, given at a previous hearing by a number of MPs from Europe, as “frivolous”.  (UK Gay News, June 8)

Portuguese Gay Group Slams Russia, the EU and Portugal’s PM Over Moscow Pride.  The Portuguese gay and lesbian group Panteras Rosa (Pink Panthers) today hit out against the Russian authorities after the weekend’s violence in Moscow during Gay Pride.  (UK Gay News, May 29).

European Union Must Impose Travel Ban on Moscow Mayor of Gay Pride Trouble – Greens.  The British Green Party has today called for a European Union travel ban on the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, following violence in the streets of the capital on Sunday during Gay Pride – and heavy-handed police tactics which saw many arrests.  (UK Gay News, May 28)

Beach, or Beaten in Moscow?  Commentary by Sara Whitman.  I sat at the beach today, and wondered how many people thought Allan and I, with Zachary in tow, thought we were heterosexual.  Okay, Allan in his tiny Speedo and me in my giant one piece Speedo and, of course, gym shorts, were not exactly looking incredibly straight but the image was enough to bother me.  I had read this morning that over thirty gay activists had been arrested in Moscow.  (UK Gay News, May 28)

Date For Next Year's Moscow Gay Pride Announced Tonight - May 31, 2008.  Within hours of being released by a Moscow Court after being arrested at yesterday’s “gay Pride” and kept in police custody overnight, Nikolai Alekseev had met with others on the Moscow Gay Pride Committee to discuss the future.  (UK Gay News, May 28)

London Mayor Appeals to Moscow For End of Gay Pride Ban.   Following yesterday’ violence against lesbian and gay rights demonstrators in Moscow – and the arrest of several of the demonstrators – the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has this morning written to his Moscow counterpart Mayor Luzhkov urging that no charges be brought against those who were demonstrating for lesbian and gay rights.  (UK Gay News, May 28)

Gay Pride Organisers Alekseev and Two Others Await Court  – 15 Days In Prison Expected.  Nikolai Alekseev and two colleagues from Moscow Gay Pride are spending tonight in police custody at they await a court appearance later this morning.  (UK Gay News, May 28)

Ahwazi Arabs Condemn Arrest of Gay Rights Demonstrators in Moscow.  Ahwazi Arab activists last night condemned the treatment of gay rights activist Peter Tatchell and other demonstrators in Moscow yesterday.  (UK Gay News, May 28)

Peter Tatchell Speaks About His Experience of Gay Pride, the Assault and His Arrest.  Arrests and violent attacks marred today’s attempted Moscow Gay Pride march.  Fifteen to 20 marchers were arrested.  The organiser of Moscow Pride, Nikolai Alekseev, is being detained overnight at Moscow’s Tverskoi district police station, together with two prominent members of Russia’s Radical and Free Radical parties, Nikolai Khramov and Sergei Konstantinov.  British gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was one of several Gay Pride marchers who were beaten today by gangs of neo-Nazis, nationalist extremists and Russian Orthodox fundamentalists.  (UK Gay News, May 27)

Arrested Gay Pride Activist Asks World for Help.  From inside the Tverskoye police station, where he is being detained, Nikolai Alekseev – one of the Moscow Gay Pride organisers and its spokesperson – has issued a statement asking for international support and for the immediate release of all the gays activists currently being held.  (UK Gay News, May 27)

Moscow Gay Pride: Dispatches from the Front.  There was trouble in Moscow today when participants at Gay Pride,, led by a number of European politicians, tried to deliver a letter of protest to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov at City Hall.  Violence flared as they faced groups of neo-Facist thugs, religious groups, aggressive police and the OMON.  This is a "record" of the dispatches received by UK Gay News from many sources.  (UK Gay News, May 27)

Tatchell at Moscow Gay Pride: We Are In This Fight Together.  Greetings!  I bring you a message of comradeship and solidarity from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex [LGBTI] human rights organizations OutRage! in London.  Your struggle is our struggle. This is the full text of Peter Tatchell's keynote speech to the Moscow Gay Pride Conference yesterday .  (UK Gay News, May 27)

Moscow Gay Pride 2006: Where Were the Human Rights Campaigners? The Same Question Can be Asked Today.  The following commentary by GayRussia.ru was written a year ago.  Has the situation changed?  The stark answer is: “Not really”.   Ludmila Alekseeva of the Moscow Helsinki Group and Lev Ponomarev of the Movement for Human Rights have both declined to come, just as last year.  (UK Gay News, May 27)

Moscow Gay Pride Blog. (UK Gay News, May 26)

Moscow City Hall Quiet as 120 Journalists Check In For Moscow Gay Pride.  With Gay Pride about to start, Moscow is surprisingly quiet.  Not a single official statement has been released by Mayor of Moscow, unlike at the same time last year.  (UK Gay News, May 26)

Tatchell: The Right To Hold Moscow Pride Is Not Just an Issue of Gay, Lesbian Rights.  International solidarity can help give a psychological and practical boost to local LGBT activists, Peter Tatchell said shortly after arriving in Moscow for the city’s second Gay Pride.  (UK Gay News, May 25)

She Promises, She Delivers – Vladimir Luxuria in Moscow for Gay Pride.  An interview with Europe's first trangendered politician.  (UK Gay News, May 25)