Two days before he was to receive the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize in Europe, Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas said yesterday he still had not been granted official permission to travel to the ceremony.

“Nothing that suggests that authorisation has been granted has arrived so far, and tomorrow is Tuesday” – the very last day he would be able to commence travel and reach the event in time, Mr Farinas said.

With no word from the government, the independent journalist and political activist said it was unlikely that he will be able to make it to the ceremony in Strasbourg, France.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek yesterday made a last-minute plea for Cuban authorities to let Mr Farinas leave the island to pick up the top EU rights prize.

“I have personally asked this in a letter to the President of Cuba, Mr Raul Castro,” Mr Buzek said.

“If Mr Farinas could leave (in) the following hours, he would still be able to join us on Wednesday,” he said at the start of a Parliament session in Strasbourg.

The European Parliament decided in October to award its prestigious human rights prize to 48-year-old Farinas, who put his own health at risk by carrying out 23 hunger strikes to protest Havana’s policies.