MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Police arrested several members of human rights groups staging an unauthorized rally near the Federal Security Service (FSB) building in central Moscow Wednesday. Around 50 protesters gathered near the FSB headquarters, chanting "Hands off human rights groups."

Police arrested three of the protestors just after the start of the rally, and later arrested another nine. Those arrested included Lev Ponomaryov, the leader of the For Human Rights movement.

Sergei Mitrokhin, a deputy leader of the liberal political party Yabloko, and Viktor Anpilov, leading the hard-line communist Working Russia party, were also among the protesters.

The protest comes on the heels of a rise in concerns over Russia's treatment of human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations, and in particular over the introduction of a new NGO law that critics say is too restrictive.

It also follows a recent Moscow espionage scandal, in which Russian security services said they had exposed British agents who were working under diplomatic cover in Moscow and financing local non-government organizations.

The scandal supported Russia's case for tightening reporting rules for NGOs operating in Russia, authorities said.

The British agents had discredited the groups that they funded, the FSB said, but admitted that such organizations pursued useful programs and helped many people.

Images (espionage scandal)