Nobel Peace Prize winners denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize denounced Russia’s ongoing invasion oof Ukraine, in speeches given at a formal award ceremony in Oslo on Saturday.
From left, Natallia Pinchuk, representing her husband, the activist Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, Jan Rachinsky, representing the Russian organization Memorial and Olexandra Matviychuk, representing the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) pose together with their awards and certificates at the awarding of the Nobel Peace PrizePhoto: EPA/Rodrigo Freitas
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize awards were officially presented on Saturday at Oslo City Hall in Norway to jailed Belarusian human rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski and representatives of the banned Russian rights group Memorial and the Kyiv-based Center for Civil Liberties.
Announced in October, the choice of this year’s recipients has been seen by many as a condemnation of Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.
Receiving the award on behalf of her husband at Oslo City Hall, Natallia Pinchuk spoke Bialiatski’s words: „I know exactly what kind of Ukraine would suit Russia and Putin — a dependent dictatorship. The same as today’s Belarus, where the voice of the oppressed people is ignored and disregarded.”
In a Nobel Lecture, Olexandra Matviychuk, a representative of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, told the gathering in Oslo: „Russia is deliberately inflicting harm on civilians aiming to stop our resistance and occupy Ukraine. (…) This is not a war between two states, it is a war of two systems – authoritarianism and democracy.”
She went on to say: „We have to establish an international tribunal and bring Putin, Lukashenko [Belarusian president ed.] and other war criminals to justice.”
The Russian co-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Jan Rachinsky, who heads Memorial, asked in his speech: „Yes, we have tried to resist the erosion of historical memory and legal consciousness by documenting crimes of both the past and the present. (…) But did our work prevent the catastrophe of 24 February?” referring to the date Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
„The monstrous burden that fell on our shoulders that day became heavier after we received the news that the prize had been awarded to us,” Rachinsky added, calling Russia’s decision to invade to Ukraine „insane and criminal.”
When the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its decision on this year’s laureates, committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said it wished „to honour three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence in the neighbour countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.”
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Source: Reuters, IAR
