France 24 reported that the Russian artist, Piotr Pavlensky, was arrested Saturday 15 February following the release of a sex tap featuring mayoral candidate Benjamin Griveaux, for which the artist has claimed responsibility.
Triggering discussions about privacy, Pavlensky claimed he released the tape to expose hypocrisy from Griveaux, specifically, he said, because the candidate had campaigned on his family values.
From France 24:
A Russian dissident artist who published screenshots of sexual images that forced President Emmanuel Macron’s candidate for Paris City Hall to pull out of the race was arrested in the French capital on Saturday, the prosecutor’s office said.
France 24
It is believed the arrest is in relation to another offence, an attack at a private party which took place on New Year’s Eve.
Reuters reported that the prosecutor’s office confirmed this to be the case on Saturday, while adding that those connected to Benjamin Griveaux had filed an official complaint in relation to a breach of privacy from Pavlensky.
It is notable that France 24 featured this headline alongside a video news story about something else, and did not clarify that the arrest was in relation to another offence, allowing the inference that the arrest may have been for the privacy issues.
