The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, was informed this evening by Members of the European Parliament from the Sub-Committee of Human Rights about the harsh reaction of Russian security forces against a peaceful demonstration in Moscow this afternoon. MEPs Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA), Laima Liucija Andrikiene (EPP) and Thijs Berman (S&D) are in Russia and were together with Russian human rights activists at a peaceful demonstration on Triumfalnya place in Moscow. They witnessed how one of the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and more than 60 human right activists were detained by Russian security forces and how the manifestation was forcefully dispersed.

EP President Jerzy Buzek deeply concerned stated: "The disproportionate reaction of the Russian police and special forces against the democratic fundamental right of freedom of assembly is worrying. I call on the Russian authorities to immediately release all detained peaceful demonstrators."

Background information:
The delegation of the Sub-Committee for Human Rights of the European Parliament is in Russia on a fact-finding mission to meet with human rights activists, among them also the Memorial group that received the EP's Sakharov-Prize in 2009 and to observe how the Russian authorities ensure the application of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution which guarantees the freedom of assembly. MEPs Heidi Hautala (Chair of the EP Sub-Committee on Human Rights, Laima Liucija Andrikiene and Thijs Berman also observed today the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. They are also planning to participate tomorrow at the commemorative events of the Beslan school tragedy of 2004 where the terrorist hostage crises took more than 300 people's lives, most of them children.

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