MOSCOW (AP) - Police officers staked out a Moscow apartment where 17 opposition activists gathered before a Tuesday evening rally that officials have banned.

The activists, who belong to The Other Russia opposition group led by former chess champion Garry Kasparov, said police sitting on the staircase outside the apartment were attempting to prevent them from getting to the rally.

Police denied that, saying instead that they wanted to speak to the activists in connection with a body found earlier Tuesday in the building's courtyard. They gave no further details about the body.

"That is a blatant lie," said Dariya Dorokhina, one of the activists, by telephone.

Dorokhina said the "blockade" was a continuation of tactics employed before previous opposition rallies, when police waiting outside individuals' apartments would detain them when they stepped outside.

The activists aimed to avoid such detention this time by renting an apartment for the day as a gathering place.

"They just followed us all the way to this apartment," Dorokhina said.

The activists met at the apartment at around 8 a.m. and told police who came knocking an hour later that they would not open the door because they had committed no crime, she said.

Yevgeny Gildeyev, a spokesman for Moscow police, accused the activists of "provoking" police.

"A group of young people waiting in the courtyard ran inside the house when they saw police officers approach," Gildeyev said. "In line with normal procedures, police officers wanted to speak to all possible witnesses," he said.

The rally is part of a series of so-called Dissenters Marches held by Kasparov's coalition protesting Kremlin policies. The rallies are rarely sanctioned and frequently are broken up violently by baton-wielding riot police.