KUALA LUMPUR — French climber Alain Robert, known as "Spiderman" for his death-defying antics, was fined by a Malaysian court on Wednesday for scaling the nation's tallest building.

Robert scrambled up the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers with his bare hands in less than two hours on Tuesday, finally reaching its peak after two unsuccessful attempts over the past decade.

"Climbing is my passion, climbing is my life," the daredevil said outside court when asked why he had scaled the towers, which were for a time the world's tallest buildings.

Robert was held in custody overnight before being brought to court where he pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and was fined 2,000 ringgit (567 dollars), but escaped a possible six-month jail sentence.

He was led into court wearing an olive-green jacket, jeans and leather boots, unshaven and with red eyes.

"Everybody has been very nice," he said of his one-day incarceration.

His lawyer, Wong Kian Kheong, told the court that Robert was "a passionate climber" who had not caused any damage to property.

"He has not done the climb for profit or publicity, I have never met any other person who is so passionate about climbing," he said, adding Robert had promised not to tackle any other Kuala Lumpur buildings in the future.

Robert celebrated his ascent Tuesday by standing with his arms outspread on the pinnacle of one of the towers, which are home to the state energy firm Petronas as well as many international companies.

He first tried to scale the building on March 20, 1997, and made a second unsuccessful attempt in 2007 after which he was freed without charge. Both times he reached the 60th storey before being intercepted by authorities.

Robert has been nicknamed "Spiderman" for his high-profile escapades, which have included climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The 452-metre (1,483-feet) Petronas Twin Towers, which opened in 1998, were for several years the world's tallest buildings until being upstaged by Taipei 101 in the Taiwanese capital among others.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gBh09L-i4qEN-VmCbHTq9XU_U9Sg

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