Qatar officials stop LGBT activist Peter Tatchell protest

Qatari officials person stopped a protestation staged by British LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Mr Tatchell said helium was "arrested and detained connected the kerbside" successful Doha connected Tuesday pursuing his one-man protestation challenging the country's attraction of LGBT radical up of the World Cup.

He said helium was aboriginal released and is present heading backmost to the UK.

The Qatari authorities said authorities asked idiosyncratic to determination but claims of an apprehension were "completely false".

Mr Tatchell, who took akin enactment erstwhile the 2018 World Cup was hosted successful Russia, said it was the archetypal nationalist LGBT rights protestation to instrumentality spot successful a Gulf state.

Mr Tatchell was pictured lasting extracurricular the National Museum of Qatar with a placard reading: "Qatar arrests, jails & subjects LGBTs to conversion", with the hashtag "#QatarAntiGay".

Video footage shows Qatari officials past approaching Mr Tatchell.

Two uniformed officers and 3 plain apparel officials arrived astatine the scene. They folded up his placard and took photos of Tatchell's passport and different papers, and those of a antheral accompanying him.

In a statement, Mr Tatchell said helium was "surrounded and interrogated" by 9 officers, who asked "where I was from, who was helping me, wherever I was staying and erstwhile I was leaving Qatar".

He said officials besides arrested his colleague, who was filming the event.

"I did this protestation to item Qatar's maltreatment of LGBT, women's and migrant workers' rights. I was lasting successful solidarity with brave Qatari quality rights defenders who cannot marque their voices heard due to the fact that of the hazard of arrest, jailhouse and torture. I americium heading backmost to the airdrome with my workfellow now," helium added.

In a statement, the Qatari authorities said: "Rumours connected societal media that a typical from the Peter Tatchell Foundation has been arrested successful Qatar are wholly mendacious and without merit.

"An idiosyncratic lasting successful a postulation roundabout was cordially and professionally asked to determination to the sidewalk, nary arrests were made.

"We are ever unfastened to dialog with entities that privation to sermon important topics, but spreading mendacious accusation with the deliberate volition of provoking antagonistic responses is irresponsible and unacceptable."

A UK authorities spokesperson said it had "provided consular enactment to 2 British nationals pursuing an incidental successful Doha".

Human rights successful Qatar are coming into crisp absorption arsenic the World Cup builds up.

The archetypal matches volition instrumentality spot successful little than a month, but immoderate fans are boycotting the lawsuit implicit Qatar's mediocre attraction of migrant workers and the LGBT community.

Human Rights Watch connected Monday said information forces successful Qatar arbitrarily arrested and abused LGBT Qataris arsenic precocious arsenic past month. A Qatari authoritative said successful a connection that HRW's allegations "contain accusation that is categorically and unequivocally false", Reuters reported.

Same-sex enactment is amerciable successful Qatar, and punishable with fines, up to 7 years imprisonment, and successful immoderate cases, death. There are nary ineligible protections for LGBT+ radical successful the Gulf state.

According to authoritative figures 37 migrant workers progressive successful constructing World Cup venues person died, though rights groups assertion the existent fig runs into thousands.

In response, the Emir of Qatar has condemned what helium called "misinformation" and "double standards" successful planetary disapproval of his state arsenic it prepares to big the shot World Cup. 

The emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, said the unprecedented disapproval amounted to slander.