Guillermo FariñasThe Cuban government has denied permission for independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas to travel to Germany next month to receive the city of Weimar's Human Rights Prize, according to a story by journalist Felix Reyes Gutierrez, a correspondent for Fariñas' own Cubanacán Press.
A major with State Security told Fariñas that his wheelchair — to which Fariñas has been confined whille recovering from a seven-month hunger strike earlier this year — said he was not being allowed to leave the country because the wheelchair "would affect the image of the revolution," according to the story, which was posted at Misceláneas de Cuba.
The prize, which is to be presented on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, will honor Fariñas for his more than 12 years as a democracy and human rights activist.
Earlier this year, from January to August, Fariñas was on a hunger strike to protest a government ban on him using the Internet to transmit his stories to the outside world. He later expanded his protest to demand unfettered access to the Internet for all Cubans.
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