- Robert Ménard
Robert Ménard (born
July 6 ,1953 inOran inAlgeria ) is one of the founders and the current Secretary-General of theParis -based internationalnon-governmental organization ,Reporters Without Borders .Ménard came from an old French family which had lived in Algeria since the 1850s. When he was nine years old, the family moved to Brusque,
Aveyron . He studied religion, and planned on becoming a priest. While in college, he became aligned withTrotskyist elements, and joined the Socialist Party.In 1975-1976, Ménard created a
pirate radio station, "Radio Pomarède", and became president of "l'Association pour la libération des ondes", "The Association for the liberation of the airwaves". He became the target of many lawsuits, in one of which,François Mitterrand , laterPresident of France gave a character reference. He later created a free magazine, "Le Petit biterrois", but was forced to close it down due to a lack of advertisers. In 1985, he created Reporters Without Borders.Ménard became the focus of significant controversy after an interview with
France Culture , in which in response to a question about the case of the kidnapped journalistDaniel Pearl , he made a statement which some have interpreted as saying that the use oftorture could be justified in some circumstances. [Jean-Noël Darde, [http://rue89.com/2007/08/26/quand-robert-menard-de-rsf-legitime-la-torture Quand Robert Ménard, de RSF, légitime la torture] , "Rue 89 ", 26 August 2007 fr icon]On
March 24 ,2008 , Ménard and two other members of Reporters Without Borders were arrested for attempting to disrupt the lighting of theOlympic Flame prior to the2008 Summer Olympic Games . The disruption was aimed at protesting the crackdown onTibet ancivil rights activities by theGovernment of the People's Republic of China . [ [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26322 Reporters Without Borders demonstrates in Olympia at start of Olympic torch relay to Beijing] ]Reporters Without Borders has been criticized for supposed links to the
CIA [ [http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/3275/9/ Reporters Without Borders Financed by CIA ] ] . The organization has denied the charge. [ [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14352 Why we take so much interest in Cuba] ]Ménard is married to Emmanuelle Duverger. They have two children.
Works
Ménard is the co-author, with his wife, of "La Censure des bien-pensants" ("The Censure of Right-thinking People").
External Links
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References
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