Police arrested human rights campaigners and prevented them from gaining signatures for petitions at U2’s first concert in Russia, on 25 August. The tents of Amnesty International, Greenpeace Russia, and U2’s own charity the ONE campaign for Aids, were all removed by police. Campaigners were not allowed to hand out leaflets or talk to any of the 75,000 fans at the Moscow venue. Head of Amnesty International in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, said that the organistation had carried out similar publicity events at many of the band’s concerts in Europe.