FRANCE-POLITICS-VOTE-RUSSIA-GRIVEAUX-PAVLENSKI-PORTRAIT

Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky poses during a press interview with AFP at his lawyer's office in Paris on February 14, 2020. Pavlensky was placed in custody on February 15, 2020 as part of an investigation for violence on December 31, 2019. Emmanuel Macron's candidate for Paris mayor, Benjamin Griveaux, withdrew from the race over a leaked sex video on February 13, in a blow for the French president's party ahead of March local elections. Griveaux said he opted for retreat to protect his family after a website published video excerpts of a man masturbating, accompanied by screengrabs of racy text messages, which it said came from the former government spokesman. On February 14, the Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky confirmed, in an AFP interview in the office of his lawyer Juan Branco, that he was responsible for publishing the video online. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)