It was after 2 a.m. and snow was falling over Paris. But there was no turning back as Robert Menard clung to the southern facade of Notre Dame Cathedral, wet, cold and afraid but determined to unfurl his protest banner from on high as the Olympic flame limped through Paris. It was the latest protest for the 54-year-old head of Reporters Without Borders - weeks after he and several colleagues briefly disrupted the solemn flame-lighting ceremony in Greece. He has been charged there with offending national symbols. A familiar face to most French journalists, and some governments, Menard has placed his press watchdog group at the forefront of the controversy over holding the Olympic Games in China amid Beijing's heavy-handed efforts to clamp down on unrest in Tibet.

"I think we have succeeded in one thing, that the question of a boycott of the opening ceremony is a question on everybody's table now," Menard said in an interview Tuesday, a day after scaling Notre Dame.

As the flame passed through Paris on Monday, often in a bus to avoid protesters, RSF unfurled its banner - a black field with the five handcuffs configured to resemble the Olympic rings - on the Eiffel Tower, the front of Notre Dame, and a few other places.

The protests that have followed the Olympic torch from London to Paris have upset host China and others who wish the Games could stand apart from politics.

China's Foreign Ministry has condemned the disruptions along the torch relay route, saying they "tarnish the lofty Olympic spirit and challenge all the people loving the Olympic Games around the world."

Unlike some other protest groups, RSF is not pushing for a boycott of the Aug. 8-24 Games but it does want a boycott of the opening ceremony.

"If we can't do something on the ground, we'll have to do it above ground," Menard said of the decision to use the 12th century Notre Dame Cathedral.

In the company of two mountain guides, Menard and colleague Jean-Francois Julliard began their stealth operation at 2 a.m., aiming to position themselves atop the cathedral. That meant climbing an outer wall. Only their wives knew.

The snow, a rare occurrence in Paris, was slippery but gave the intruders an advantage. Police and guards who patrol the surrounding area apparently took shelter, allowing them unfettered access.

Menard is not a mountain climber and he was afraid.

"It took us three hours to reach the top ... You're afraid but you can't stop. At a certain point, you say, 'I'm stopping.' Halfway up, I can't move anymore, but we had to reach the top."

The four spent the night some 141 feet above ground, wedged between the roof and the masonry. "There we stayed for 10 hours ... waiting for the moment to climb back up and drop down with a rope to just above the rose window where we unfurled the banner," Menard said.

Ironically, police, criticized for their brutality with some demonstrators Monday, let Menard and his group go, even returning the banner once it was taken down.

Greek authorities were less forgiving of RSF's unfurling of a banner at the flame-lighting ceremony March 24 and RSF protesters rushing the event field. Menard and two colleagues are charged with a misdemeanor count of offending national symbols and go to trial in late May.

Menard's organization, founded in 1985, puts out daily alerts about jailed journalists and newspaper suspensions around the world. Each year, it publishes a press freedom index.

Menard has his critics and he knows it.

"We're not prudent," he said. "I call a jerk a jerk. It's a choice."

Written By ELAINE GANLEY

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