A Ukrainian member of the Femen movement was slapped with over 6,000 euros ($7,300) in fines on Wednesday for impaling a wax statue of Russian President Vladimir Putin with a stake, while bare-breasted, in a Paris museum.
Iana Jdanova, 26, is the first member of the women’s movement to be fined in France for their signature topless protests, which they have staged in the Notre Dame cathedral, on top of the Moulin Rouge cabaret and on the Champs Elysees avenue.
In June, the Ukrainian who has been exiled in France for two years, bared her breasts in the presidents’ hall of the Grevin Waxworks Museum.
With “Kill Putin” written in red across her chest she repeatedly stabbed the statue with what appeared to be a fake bloodied stake, while yelling “Putin dictator!”
Jdanova hails from eastern Ukraine, gripped in a months-long conflict that the west accuses Moscow of fuelling. The activist, referred to by Femen as a “sextremist”, described her act as political.
She received a 1,500 euro fine for sexual exhibition, 3,004 euros for material damage, 1,000 euros for moral prejudice and 500 euros legal fees.
“It is very strange, it is really a joke,” she said after the sentencing. “This is the first time that we have been sentenced for exhibition. This is our way of protesting, I have done it in Ukraine, in Turkey and it is the first time.”
Her lawyer Marie Dose said they would appeal the decision and take it to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
“In a society like ours where commercial exhibition is everywhere, sentencing for exhibition sends a political message, it is nonsense,” said Dose.