Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell released following Moscow demo arrest

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been released after being arrested in Moscow over a one-man protest near the Kremlin.

Mr Tatchell was detained near a statue of Marshal Zhukov in a public square busy with football fans ahead of the first match of the World Cup.

He had been holding a poster critical of Russian president Vladimir Putin, which read: "Putin fails to act against Chechnya torture of gay people".

Several police officers stepped in to detain Mr Tatchell and told him he had broken the law in Russia.

Mr Tatchell was allowed to walk to a nearby police car where he was questioned before being transferred to another car and being driven away to a police station.

He shouted "OK" as he left the first vehicle before being flanked by two officers in the car which drove him away.

He was released on bail around an hour later, and the Peter Tatchell Foundation said he had been "treated well".

Earlier, Mr Tatchell defended his right to protest, saying: "I was exercising my lawful right to protest, under the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and the right to protest in Articles 29 and 31.

"A one-person protest, which is what I did, requires no permission from the authorities and the police.

"Getting arrested is standard for Russians who protest for LGBT+ rights or against corruption, economic injustice and Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its bombing of civilians in Syria."

He said he had been treated more leniently than Russian protesters because of his British passport and said he was "awed" by their courage.

On his reasons for staging the protest, Mr Tatchell said before his arrest: "Little action has been taken by the Russian government and police to crack down on far right extremists who target LGBT+ people for violent and humiliating assaults – including the instigators of the current threats to bash and stab LGBT+ football fans at the World Cup."

He said it was his sixth visit to the country, where he said he has twice been arrested during protests and suffered brain damage after being attacked by Russian neo-Nazis in 2007.