Benjamin Griveaux announced this Friday morning that he was abandoning the race for mayor of Paris because of "vile attacks" relayed by "a website and social networks".
Behind the site in question is Piotr Pavlenski, a Russian artist who has taken refuge in France, in Paris, since 2017. Aged 35, Pavlenski had already made himself known in France for having torched the facade of an agency of the Bank of France, place de la Bastille, in Paris, in October 2017. He was sentenced in January 2019 to three years in prison, including 2 years suspended.
Piotr Pavlenski, artist who practices self-mutilation in his performances, made himself known in Russia in the early 2010s by denouncing the power of Putin by sewing his mouth ... or by nailing his testicles on the floor of Red Square, Moscow.
