Artist Who Released Lewd Video of Macron Ally Arrested

Though not for that incident
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2020 2:02 PM CST
Russian Who Released Lewd Video of Macron Ally Arrested
Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky arrives at the Paris courthouse, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019.   (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The Russian performance artist who released a lewd video of one of French President Emmanuel Macron's political allies last week, ending the man's campaign for mayor of Paris, was arrested in Paris Saturday. But, though that move has been widely condemned, Petr Pavlensky was not detained because of the video of Benjamin Griveaux: Rather, French police arrested Pavlensky, who was granted political asylum in France in 2017, in relation to an alleged fight that took place in a Paris apartment on New Year's Eve, the BBC reports. Police say Pavlensky was being investigated with regard to "willful violence with a weapon." Radio Free Europe reports he allegedly pulled a knife during an argument at a party, and two guests were wounded.

Meanwhile, Griveaux filed an invasion of privacy complaint against Pavlensky with the police this weekend and the Paris prosecutor's office opened a probe into the lewd video incident as well. RFI reports Pavlensky's girlfriend was taken into custody Wednesday with regard to that investigation, and was being questioned on suspicion of "invasion of privacy" and "dissemination without the person's consent of images of a sexual nature." (Pavlensky first made headlines by nailing his testicles to Red Square.)

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