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Mercredi, un site publiait des vidéos intimes incriminant Benjamin Griveaux. As he bowed out, Mr Griveaux said no-one should be subjected to such a "torrent of mud"
My family doesn't deserve this. All rights reserved. It appears Griveaux and the woman were exchanging messages and photographs.The 42-year-old former spokesman for Macron’s government and his wife have three children and he has often mentioned them during his mayoral election campaign. A link to the site was shared by an MP who was forced to resign from Mr Macron's LREM (Republic on the Move) party in late 2018.Mr Griveaux told the BFMTV news channel that for the past year he and his family had been subjected to "defamatory remarks, lies, rumours, anonymous attacks... and even death threats". Incumbent Mayor Anne Hidalgo appealed for respect for people's private lives, while far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon condemned the attack as "odious". He fled Russia and sought asylum in France when he was accused by the authorities of a sexual assault that he denied.He served seven months in jail for setting the front door of the FSB intelligence agency on fire in Moscow. His campaign for mayor was central to Macron’s attempt to control Paris’s city hall to build a local power base for his party, but he had alienated many within his own camp after a leaked conversation with journalists revealed disparaging remarks he had made about LREM rivals.A Russian artist living in Paris and reportedly close to the gilets jaunes movement “He [Griveaux] is someone who is always mentioning family values. Benjamin Griveaux condemns a "torrent of mud" after a video is apparently posted by a Russian artist.
We will not let Paris go.”Call for increased security as French president tells demonstrators ‘be cool’Jean Castex retains foreign affairs, finance and health ministers but replaces interior minister criticised over Schoolgirl Mila received death threats after posting anti-religious diatribe on InstagramCédric O says French will not back down on levy despite US threats of trade war La République en Marche is still here. "Mr Griveaux was not favourite to win the mayoral race in March, but he has been a very close ally of the president and his political demise is inevitably an embarrassment for the president, the BBC's Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.He was trailing in third place, his campaign hampered by a dissident Macronite candidate called Cédric Villani. The laws mean any intrusion into a person’s personal or “intimate” life is, in serious cases, punishable by fines and prison sentences.Olivia Grégoire, a LREM MP, told journalists outside Griveaux’s campaign headquarters that the candidate had made the decision to stand down alone.“It’s the decision of a free man. Il a fallu moins de 48 heures pour que le candidat LREM renonce à la mairie de Paris. Benjamin Griveaux, who was standing for party of President Macron, lambasts ‘vile attacks’ Kim Willsher in Paris Fri 14 Feb 2020 09.13 EST First published on Fri 14 Feb 2020 03.59 EST "No-one should be subjected to such abuse," said Mr Griveaux, 42.The video, showing a man in a compromising position, quickly spread on social media late on Thursday.Petr Pavlensky, who sought asylum from Russia in 2017, said he had posted the video online.Opponents from across the political spectrum voiced their outrage. Emmanuel Macron accosted by gilets jaunes as he takes Bastille Day walkFrance's new prime minister keeps key figures in reshuffled cabinetBlasphemy 'is no crime', says Macron amid French girl's anti-Islam rowFrance's digital minister says tax on big tech is just the startCitizens' assembly ready to help Macron set French climate policiesFrench ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial in OctoberMacron was the great hope for centrists. This goes too far As if all this was not enough, yesterday a new level was reached.” Griveaux has received support since he withdrew from the race from politicians including the prime minister, Edouard Philippe, plus others who would more usually be his opponent. "I don't like people mixing up political life with people's privacy," said MP Alexis Corbière. Nobody should ever be subjected to this kind of abuse,” Griveaux said in a statement after a crisis meeting at his Paris campaign headquarters.“For more than a year, my family and I have been subjected to defamatory remarks, lies, rumours, anonymous attacks, the revelation of stolen private conversations and death threats. Despite his struggles, the hope is not lostMacron’s new year address falls flat as pension row deepens "This torrent of mud has affected me and above all hurt the people I love. "Mr Griveaux's lawyer said he would press charges over the publication of the video, which he said violated the right to a private life.Mr Pavlensky, who says he posted the video online, first gained notoriety by nailing his scrotum to Moscow's Red Square in 2013.
It then alleged that Mr Griveaux had exchanged intimate mobile phone messages with a young woman and sent her a personal video.