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Partner of Russian artist Pavlensky released from prison in France - lawyer

Pavlensky and Shalygina were detained in Paris in mid-October 2017, after Pavlensky set fire to the entrance to one of the Banque de France buildings

PARIS, January 6. /TASS/. Civil partner of Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky Oksana Shalygina, arrested along with him in October of 2017 for setting fire to a bank in central Paris, was released from prison in France, the couple’s lawyer Dominique Beyreuther Minkov said on Facebook.

"The artist's place is anywhere, but not in prison. Oksana Shalygina was released," she wrote. Pavlensky and Shalygina were detained in Paris in mid-October 2017, after Pavlensky set fire to the entrance to one of the Banque de France buildings. Shalygina was also involved in the arson, according to the local media. The facade of the building suffered significant damage.

According to the French criminal law, deliberate arson is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 150,000 euro. On the instructions of the prosecutor's office, experts from the French police conducted Pavlensky's psychiatric examination, which showed that he can be held accountable for his actions.

Pavlensky, together with his partner and two children, moved to France from Russia after receiving political asylum in May 2017.

Pavlensky became controversially famous in Russia after several performances - in October 2014, nude artist cut his earlobe on the roof of the Serbsky psychiatry center in Moscow, in November 2013 he undressed on the Red Square and nailed himself to the paving stones next to the Mausoleum, and in the summer of 2012 sewn his mouth and went to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg with a poster supporting Pussy Riot group.

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