A court in Paris sentenced the artist Pavlensky to a year in prison; he was not sent to custody

In Paris, a court sentenced Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky to a year of real and two years of suspended imprisonment. Taking into account the 11 months already served in custody, the court did not take him into custody, RFI reports .

According to the radio station, Pavlensky’s associate Oksana Shalygina received two years in prison and 16 months of suspended imprisonment, but she will not serve the sentence either. In addition, both defendants were sentenced to a fine (the amount was not specified) and a ban on carrying weapons for five years.

At the beginning of the meeting, Pavlensky explained that he was dedicating the trial to the Marquis de Sade, and called the Bank de France, erected on the site of the Bastille, “a precedent for a monstrous mockery of the political history of France.” “It follows from this that either the court should restore justice and decide to remove the Bank of France instead of the Bastille, drop all charges against me and recognize political art as permitted on French territory. “Or the court should justify the authorities’ mockery of society, sentence me to ten years so that such incidents will not happen again, and officially ban me on French territory,” he said. After this, the artist declared his right to silence and stopped answering the judge’s questions.

Then, the radio station reports, a blind witness spoke in court and talked about “the symbolism of fire, light and illumination.” In turn, the prosecutor asked to sentence the artist to four years in prison, and Shalygina to three years. The bank representative demanded from Pavlensky damages in the amount of 18,670 euros, moral compensation in the amount of 5,000 euros and 1,000 euros for the costs of a lawyer.

On the night of October 16, 2017, Pavlensky set fire to the entrance group of the Bank of France building. The artist called this action an attempt to “revive revolutionary France.” Later, he and Shalygina were detained and sent to prison near Paris.

In January 2018, Shalygina was released from custody. In September, the court decided to release the artist himself.