Paris (AFP)
The companion of the Russian artist Piotr Pavlenski, suspected of having been the recipient of the intimate videos which pushed Benjamin Griveaux to withdraw his candidacy for the mayor of Paris, was placed in police custody on Saturday evening, we learned Sunday from consistent sources.
According to the Paris Prosecutor's Office, she was placed in police custody for "invasion of the privacy of private life" and "dissemination without the person's agreement of sexual images", within the framework of the investigation opened on Saturday following the filing of a complaint against X by Mr. Griveaux.
Piotr Pavlenski was placed in police custody on Saturday afternoon as part of another case concerning violence committed on the evening of December 31. If they wish, the investigators however have the possibility of questioning him on the investigation which concerns the ex-candidate LREM.
This political refugee who had, among other artistic initiatives, set fire to the facade of a branch of the Banque de France in 2017, said Friday that he was at the origin of the online videos concerned, ensuring he wanted to denounce the "hypocrisy "by Benjamin Griveaux.
The latter "used his family by presenting himself as an icon for all the fathers and husbands of Paris. He propagated traditional family values," said Pavlenski.
This justification is "grotesque", answered Saturday evening Mr. Griveaux's lawyer, Me Richard Malka. "I have rarely seen a more cynical personality. We are in an absolute sham, with pseudo artists who consider that they are in a dictatorship and give moral lessons," he said on LCI.
He also expressed doubts that Mr. Pavlenski was solely responsible for the dissemination of the videos. "Clearly, I do not believe at all that he acted alone," he continued, without advancing further and referring to the investigation opened by the prosecution.
The Russian artist is also implicated for having participated in a brawl in the evening of December 31 in an apartment in Paris. According to an AFP participant's story, an argument broke out between several people and Piotr Pavlenski, who seized a knife in the kitchen.
Two of the guests were injured with this knife, reported the French news site Médiapart, which had revealed the existence of this investigation.
The lawyer and essayist Juan Branco, who says he "advised" Mr. Pavlenski on the videos behind Mr. Griveaux's withdrawal, was also present at this New Years Eve party.
Benjamin Griveaux's withdrawal caused a political shock wave and forced the presidential party to find him, as a matter of urgency, a successor to run for mayor of Paris at the municipal elections in March.
© 2020 AFP