London (FN), July 31 – The UK Foreign Office has not even tried to look objectively at the situation around the unsanctioned rally in Moscow on July 27, the Russian Embassy in London said in a commentary circulated on Monday, according to the Russian News Agency TACC.

"It is our understanding that our British colleagues have made no attempt to objectively assess the situation. In this regard, we would like to point out that the rally in Moscow city center was illegal," the embassy said.

"The people detained in its course committed a number of offences. We would also like to remind the UK authorities that all citizens, with no exception, are equal before the law," the embassy noted.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that London was "concerned by the detention on 27 July of over a thousand protesters."

"The Russian government continues to disregard the rights of its people to freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly," the spokesperson said in a statement, urging Moscow "to comply with its international commitments on human rights".

Police and National Guard detained more than 1,000 people for participation in an unauthorized demonstration in the center of Moscow on July 27. More than 600 of them were non-residents. According to police sources, more than 3,500 gathered for the demonstration, and 295 people were detained for violating public order.

The authorities had warned the protestors in advance they would be brought to justice for legal violations. Moscow’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin quoted police sources as saying that preparations had been underway for provocations that might endanger people’s security, life, and health. The Moscow police force issued a call for refraining from participation in the demonstration and promised to take necessary measures to maintain public security and prevent violations of law and order.

The Moscow prosecutor’s office is conducting an administrative investigation of 15 unregistered candidates in the forthcoming Moscow Duma elections who organized illegal demonstrations on July 14 and 27.
=FRESH NEWS