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Piotr Pavlenski and his partner charged and released

Russian activist Piotr Pavlenski, who released the fatal images for the candidacy to the municipal elections in Paris of Benjamin Griveaux, a close friend of President Emmanuel Macron, and his partner Alexandra de Taddeo were charged on Tuesday and placed under judicial supervision. The Russian performer, a political refugee in France since 2017, also implicated in another case relating to gun violence committed on December 31, has not been charged (“indicted“) in this investigation and is expected to be released later that evening, said his lawyer.

Alexandra de Taddeo, a 29-year-old student, admits being the recipient of Benjamin Griveaux’s sexual images from 2018, but denies any involvement in their dissemination, said her lawyer. The young woman and her companion are accused of “invasion of privacy“and”distribution without the person’s consent of a recording relating to words or images of a sexual nature and obtained with their consent or by themselves“said a judicial source.

She’s the recipient, she recognizes him

She is the recipient, she recognizes him without objection, it is she. She kept them, not to post them on a website, she kept them to keep them“said student lawyer Noémie Saidi-Cottier.”Its position is clear, it is not on the initiative of the diffusion of the images, it disputes its implication in the diffusion of the images. For the rest, she fully supports her boyfriend“, explained the lawyer.

The young woman, a law student speaking several languages ​​including Russian, is also in possession of other videos of Mr. Griveaux, according to another source familiar with the matter. His judicial review prohibited him from contacting his companion.

Piotr Pavlenski, a 35-year-old Russian activist who obtained political asylum in France in 2017, quickly claimed to be at the origin of the videos on an ad hoc website, which has since become inaccessible. He justified his action by denouncing the “hypocrisy“from Mr. Griveaux, who”used his family by presenting himself as an icon for all Paris fathers and husbands“according to him. An explanation qualified as”grotesque“by Me Richard Malka, the lawyer for the former government spokesman, who filed a complaint against X on Saturday.

The Russian activist remained silent on the subject in front of the investigators, a source close to the file told AFP. Less than 48 hours after the videos were posted online, Benjamin Griveaux had renounced his candidacy for mayor of Paris on Friday. One month before the polls on March 15 and 22, he was replaced at short notice by the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn.

Violence during a party on December 31

Another case could lead Mr. Pavlenski to pre-trial detention: he is also accused of violence committed during an evening on December 31 in Paris. He was arrested for the first time on Saturday in connection with this second case. During an argument, the Russian seized a knife, according to an AFP account of a participant in the evening. Two of the guests were injured with this knife, reported the Mediapart news site, which had revealed the existence of this investigation.

In this case, his detention on remand was required to “violence with a weapon and under the influence of intoxication resulting in a disability of less than 8 days“. This New Years Eve party took place in the presence of French lawyer and essayist Juan Branco, who had defended Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and said he had”advisable“Mr. Pavlenski on the videos behind Mr. Griveaux’s withdrawal.

The Russian activist is best known for his performances “shock“, like when he sewed his lips in support of the protest group Pussy Riot or when he nailed the skin of the testicles on the cobblestones of Red Square, in Moscow. In 2019, he was convicted for burning down two years earlier a branch of the Banque de France in Paris.

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