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26 January 2011
Last updated at 23:58 ET
High-profile Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas, winner of the EU's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, has been detained, his mother has said.
Mr Farinas was held along with other activists as they tried to stop the eviction of a woman in the city of Santa Clara, she said.
Mr Farinas came close to death last year after staging a 134-day hunger strike.
The Cuban authorities have not confirmed the latest detention.
Empty chair Mr Farinas's mother, Alicia Hernandez, told the Associated Press news agency he was trying to prevent the eviction of a woman who did not have the proper papers to live in the property.
Ms Hernandez said she did not know when he might be freed.
The Cuban authorities do not usually comment on the detention of activists.
"I spoke with him, and he told me that he is under arrest in the third police unit in Santa Clara, and then he hung up," Ms Hernandez told AFP.
Mr Farinas was represented by an empty chair in December at a ceremony to award him the Sakharov Prize. He was not allowed to leave Cuba to collect the award.
Earlier in the year he came close to death during his hunger strike in protest at the death of fellow dissident Orlando Zapata.
He ended the protest in July, when Cuban President Raul Castro authorised the release of 52 of the island's most prominent prisoners of conscience.
Mr Farinas has spent 11-and-a-half years in prison for a variety of offences and has staged more than 20 hunger strikes.
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Mr Farinas was held along with other activists as they tried to stop the eviction of a woman in the city of Santa Clara, she said.
Mr Farinas came close to death last year after staging a 134-day hunger strike.
The Cuban authorities have not confirmed the latest detention.
Empty chair Mr Farinas's mother, Alicia Hernandez, told the Associated Press news agency he was trying to prevent the eviction of a woman who did not have the proper papers to live in the property.
Ms Hernandez said she did not know when he might be freed.
The Cuban authorities do not usually comment on the detention of activists.
"I spoke with him, and he told me that he is under arrest in the third police unit in Santa Clara, and then he hung up," Ms Hernandez told AFP.
Mr Farinas was represented by an empty chair in December at a ceremony to award him the Sakharov Prize. He was not allowed to leave Cuba to collect the award.
Earlier in the year he came close to death during his hunger strike in protest at the death of fellow dissident Orlando Zapata.
He ended the protest in July, when Cuban President Raul Castro authorised the release of 52 of the island's most prominent prisoners of conscience.
Mr Farinas has spent 11-and-a-half years in prison for a variety of offences and has staged more than 20 hunger strikes.
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