Cuba’s Fariñas honoured with EP Sakharov Prize

The European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded, in absentia, to the Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas.

The award is given to individuals or groups who fight against intolerance, fanaticism and oppression.

Protesting in support of human rights in the one-party Caribbean island, he has staged more than 20 hunger strikes and spent more than 11 years in prison.

He has been in hospital since ending a second 134-day hunger strike to raise awareness of the plight of political prisoners in Cuba. In awarding the psychologist, journalist and former soldier the prize, the Parliament called Fariñas a “symbol of the fight for freedom of speech.”

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