Bove has called for widespread protests ahead of the WTO summit A French judge has rejected a request by anti-globalisation campaigner Jose Bove to go to protests in the Mexican town of Cancun during the World Trade Organisation summit.
Judge Xavier Puel followed a recommendation made by a public prosecutor in Mr Bove's home town of Millau, southern France, that the campaigner should not be allowed to leave the country.
Mr Bove, 50, has been on conditional release from jail for the last month.
He had served six weeks of a 10-month sentence on two counts of destroying genetically modified crops.
Mr Bove has called for widespread protests ahead of the 10-14 September summit, at which ministers from the 146 member states are expected to review the progress of trade liberalisation talks.
Mr Bove's lawyer said that he would appeal against the ruling, but would now not be able to get to Cancun for the start of the summit.
The campaigner now plans to hold a "symbolic demonstration" in the small south-western French town with a similar name - Cancon - on 9 September.
'Hero'
Mr Bove, a moustachioed sheep farmer, has become perhaps the best-known face of the international anti-globalisation movement.
Correspondents say that to many in France he is not a criminal but a hero.
He shot to fame in 1998 after smashing up a McDonald's restaurant, for which he also served a jail term.
But his latest sentence was reduced in a partial amnesty by French President Jacques Chirac, and a judge ruled he could serve the rest of his sentence under a conditional release programme.
One of the terms of his release was that he was required to seek legal permission to travel abroad.
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