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Moscow police arrest 40 at gay rally

MOSCOW, May 27 (UPI) -- Police in Moscow arrested 40 people Sunday at an unlicensed gay rights rally.

An unidentified police source told the ITAR-Tass news agency two of those arrested were "reporters who participated in the event instead of covering it."

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The rally was held to observe the anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia in 1993.

Among those arrested for being in a public rally without a permit was prominent gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev, the RIA Novosti news agency said.

Former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has denounced gay rights rallies as "satanic," and current Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has also criticized them, RIA Novosti said.

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