STRASBOURG, April 16 (RIA Novosti) - The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said Monday that excessive use of force to disperse demonstrations should be ruled out.

Rights groups, oppositionists and journalists have accused Russian police of abusing their power and violating laws during the dispersal of opposition demonstrations that the authorities had banned in Moscow and St. Petersburg over the weekend, which resulted in the detention of 250 and 170 people in the two cities, respectively.

Rene van der Linden said it is inadmissible by a Council of Europe country to use excessive force, and added that he condemns such dispersals anywhere - in France, Britain or Russia.

But Russia's prosecutor general denied that any laws were broken during the March of Dissent in Moscow Saturday, and said police actions were legal.

"We have no applications [on violations], we have received no complaints," Yury Chaika told journalists when asked to comment on Saturday's events. "I don't know what violations you are talking about."

Human Rights Watch said Sunday police used "disproportionate" force to disperse a peaceful demonstration "even if they [oppositionists] did violate a permit" to hold rallies instead of demonstrations.

Some 9,000 policemen had been summoned to provide security in Moscow during the Saturday march that gathered supporters and members of the Other Russia organization that includes the People's Patriotic Union led by former Premier Mikhail Kasyanov, the banned National Bolshevik Party, the United Civil Front led by world chess champion Garry Kasparov and the Republican Party.

Kasparov was detained and held by police until late evening. He accused riot police of "a bandit attack on Russian citizens."

Human rights advocates in Russia and abroad have criticized the Kremlin for tightening its grip on democracy and human freedoms ever since Vladimir Putin took presidential office in 2000. However, polls show that the majority of Russians support the country's leader for the stability and economic growth Russia has enjoyed under his rule.

The State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, said Monday it has not received any complaints about the abuse of citizens' rights during the dissenters' marches in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

But St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko ordered a probe Monday into alleged human rights violations at a 500-strong opposition rally in Russia's second-largest city April 15.

"At a meeting with the heads of the city's law enforcement agencies Monday, Valentina Matviyenko gave instructions to study carefully all the statements about the abuse of citizens' rights during the mass events... The governor demanded that police take measures within the applicable legislation, if such facts are confirmed," the press office of the city government said.

A European Commission spokeswoman said Monday the commission intends to touch upon the observation of the freedom of assembly principle in Russia during an April 23 Russia-EU Permanent Partnership Council session.