PARIS (AFP) - Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky was charged on Tuesday (Feb 18) for his role in the dissemination of a sex video that brought down President Emmanuel Macron's candidate for Paris mayor, his lawyer said.

Pavlensky, a Russian activist granted political asylum in France in 2017, has admitted to uploading the images onto a purpose-built website, saying he wanted to expose the "hypocrisy" of candidate Benjamin Griveaux, a married father of three.