Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, today issued the following statement: “I regret the clashes that occurred between gay activists and nationalist extremists in Moscow yesterday. I also regret that the police were not able to prevent the clashes. The right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as enshrined in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, belongs to all people without any discrimination and law enforcement authorities have a duty to protect peaceful demonstrators.