ROME/PARIS, May 28 (RIA Novosti) - Italy's foreign minister has expressed anger at the detention of two members of the European parliament during Sunday's unsanctioned gay pride parade in central Moscow, while a spokesman for France's Foreign Ministry has said he regrets the "acts of violence" perpetrated against the marchers.
"This is an unpleasant episode not only because members of parliament suffered, but also because it is still unclear what role the authorities and police played," Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Monday.
"We regret the acts of violence and remind everyone that sexual orientation is a private matter. No one should be a victim of violence because of their sexual orientation," spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.
The speaker of the Italian House of Deputies, Fausto Bertinotti, also condemned the detentions, which came after a group of Russian extremists attacked the marchers, pelting them with eggs, slurs and fists as Russian police looked on.
The Italian Radical Party reported Sunday that two of its members, Marco Cappato and Ottavio Marzocchi, had been detained during the attempted march, which was dispersed by riot police before it managed to get very far.
They added that Italian Communist Party member and parliamentary deputy, Vladimir Luxuria, was physically attacked in front of the Moscow mayor's office.
A total of 31 people out of 40 who turned up to participate were detained when they tried to stage the unsanctioned demonstration in support of sexual minorities. More than 150 journalists were also on hand to observe the event.
The marchers attempted to deliver a letter to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, signed by 43 deputies of the European parliament, with a call to allow the march "in support of tolerance and respect for the rights and freedoms of homosexuals in Russia."
Moscow authorities had earlier rejected an official request by gay parade organizers for permission to march on the grounds that it would interfere with the rights and routines of ordinary Muscovites.
Earlier, Moscow mayor Luzhkov had called the gay pride parades "Satanic" and vowed that it would never be permitted in his city, while the Russian Orthodox Church and various nationalist groups have sworn to halt any attempt to hold a march in support of gay rights in Russia.
