SWEDEN: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to rights advocates in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus who have become symbols of resistance and accountability at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set off the largest ground war in Europe since World War II.
The laureates — Ales Bialiatski, a jailed Belarusian activist; Memorial, a Russian organization; and the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine — have emerged as some of the starkest challengers to the widespread misinformation and harmful myths disseminated by authoritarian leaders and fueled by globalization, digital connectedness and new methods of surveillance.
Memorial’s receiving the award makes this the second year in a row that someone from Russia has shared the Nobel Peace Prize — an unusual streak that underlines the high stakes and long odds in the struggle over Russia’s future.
Last year, one of the two Peace Prize laureates was Dmitri A. Muratov, the editor of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, six of whose journalists have been murdered.Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a leader of the pro-democracy movement in Belarus, noted that Ales Bialiatski had celebrated his 60th birthday in prison in September. - NDTV
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