Russian protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky seeks political asylum in France

The St Petersburg-based protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky, famous for nailing his scrotum to Moscows Red Square, has fled to France where he plans to apply for political asylum. The radical artist left Russia in mid-December with his partner, Oksana Chalyguina, and their children, after the opening of a criminal investigation brought against him for sexual assault.On Monday, 16 January, Pavlensky told the Russian opposition television channel Dojd that a complaint had been filed against him and hi