Russian activist artist Petr Pavlensky has been handed a six-month custodial sentence by a French court for his involvement in a s*x tape scandal that led to the downfall of a political associate of President Macron.

Pavlensky, who relocated to France in 2017, will serve his sentence under electronic monitoring, rather than incarceration.

His partner will also receive a six-month suspended sentence.

They disseminated a video that tarnished Benjamin Griveaux's mayoral candidacy in Paris in 2020.

Both of them have been instructed to provide €15,000 (£12,950) in compensation to Mr. Griveaux, in addition to €5,000 to cover legal expenses.

Alexandra de Taddeo, Pavlensky's partner, had a romantic involvement with Mr. Griveaux in 2018.

In 2020, a video was published on a website, revealing screen captures of exchanges between the two and a man engaging in a sexual act with a young woman.

Subsequent to its release, Ms. Taddeo was arrested on charges related to invasion of privacy and unauthorized dissemination of personal images.

Pavlensky admitted responsibility for uploading the video.

Mr Griveaux, a former prominent figure in President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party, was seeking the mayoral seat in Paris when the explicit videos emerged.

Almost three-and-a-half years after the event, he had given up politics and was absent from the trial.

His lawyer, Richard Malka, told local media the former secretary of state said was "satisfied that justice has been done to him, but for all that, the wrongs that have been caused to him will never be repaired".

At the time, political figures were quick to condemn Pavlensky's actions.

Former Parisian mayor Anne Hidalgo said people's private lives should be respected, while far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon described the video's release as "odious", while far-right leader Marine Le Pen suggested Mr. Griveaux should not have quit.

This is not the first time Pavlensky has received a prison sentence. In 2019, he was given a three-year sentence, two of them suspended, for setting fire to a bank in Paris.

The controversial figure gained notoriety for nailing his scr0t*m to Moscow's Red Square in 2013.

At the time, Pavlensky claimed the stunt was part of his artwork Pornopolitics, adding the s*x video scandal had been part of this.

Leaving the courtroom after the s*x tape trial, he said he was "not going to appeal against the judge's decision".

"My work of art Pornopolitics is now finished, because the judge's conviction is the last point in my works of art, it's always like that," local media reported.

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