Reporters without Borders secretary general retained

Reporters without Borders secretary general Robert Menard was retained on Champs Elysees on Monday while attending a protest against the presence of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the presidential tribune, TF1 website informs, quoted by Romanian news agency Mediafax.

Menard was detained together with many militants who were protesting against the Syrian President. According to the weekly Journal du Dimanche, Robert Menard and other protesters were taken to the police headquarters.

RSF representative Vincent Brossel declared that the protest was organized because they do not think that the Syrian President should sit next to the French President. The main reason put forward by RSF representatives is that France’s national day contradicts the Syrian President’s regime back home.

On Sunday, Syrian President al Assad mocked the French radio station France Inter for bragging too much.