Pyotr Pavlenski and his partner were found guilty “invasion of privacy” by the Paris Criminal Court, this Wednesday October 11, 2023, in the Benjamin Griveaux case. The first was sentenced to six months in prison but subject to change with an electronic bracelet and the second to six months in prison, suspended. She denied any involvement but nevertheless maintained her ” artistic approach “. The prosecution considered that “any action cannot be committed in the name of freedom of expression”.
A controversial performance artist known for his extreme actions, Pavlenski has been a political refugee in France since 2017. On February 12, 2020, he published videos of a sexual nature on his site Pornopolitique targeting the former Secretary of State, calling her “political art”.
LREM (La République en Marche) candidate for Paris town hall, Benjamin Griveaux had to withdraw from the electoral campaign in February 2020, following the controversy created by the broadcast of these images. The politician had sent them in 2018 to Alexandra de Taddeo during their brief relationship, before Pavlenski later retrieved them from his partner’s computer. He declared that he wanted to denounce ” hypocrisy “ of the former Secretary of State who embodied the figure of the ideal father.
During the hearing last June, Pavlenski defended himself on behalf of the “artistic freedom”. In a theatrical production, he declaimed his views on art while Alexandra de Taddeo had obviously come to promote his book “Love”.
The two defendants were also ordered to pay 15,000 euros in damages, as well as 5,000 euros in legal fees to the plaintiff. Piotr Pavlenski is also deprived of his civil and civic rights for three years. If Mr. Griveaux’s lawyer, Me Richard Malka, welcomes the conviction, he declares that “However, the harm done to him will never be repaired. »
