The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the founder of anti-Putin newspaper Novaya Gazeta and a Filipino journalist who took on Duterte ...
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the founder of anti-Putin newspaper Novaya Gazeta and a Filipino journalist who took on Duterte in a swipe at dictators.
Russian Dmitry Muratov and Filipino Maria Ressa were awarded the prize on Friday, honoring the right to free speech which the prize-giving committee described as under threat around the globe.
It comes after a months-long crackdown on press freedom and political opposition by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the run up to the September election.
Muratov's independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, has been critical of the Russian strongman and his predecessors in the Kremlin since it was established in 1993.
Chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Berit Reiss-Andersen said the pair were given the award 'for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia.'
Russian Dmitry Muratov was given the award for founding the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta which has been critical of Putin and his predecessors in the Kremlin since it was established in 1993
Responding to the news Muratov told the Telegram news channel Podyom: 'I am laughing. I didn't expect it at all. It's madness over here right now. I saw a call from Norway, but I thought it was some unwanted call.
'Here's what I will say: we will continue to represent Russian journalism, which is now being suppressed. That's all.
'We will try to help people who are now labelled as 'foreign agents', who are being attacked and expelled from the country.'
He later told Russian news agency Tass: 'I can't take credit for this. This is Novaya Gazeta's. It is that of those who died defending the right of people to freedom of speech.
'Now that they are no longer with us, they [the Nobel committee] probably decided that I should tell it to everyone.'
The decision to award Muratov the coveted prize has been seen as a swipe at Russian President Vladimir Putin who has cracked down on press freedoms and opposition in recent months
Muratov also paid tribute to journalist murdered in Russia for their work.
'It's for Igor Domnikov, it's for Yura Shchekochikhin, it's for Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya, it's for Nastya Baburova, it's for Natasha Estemirova, it's for Stas Markelov. This is for them,' he said.
Several Novaya Gazeta journalists have been killed or died under mysterious circumstances, including renowned Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya who was shot in 2006.
And in a surprising move, the Kremlin congratulated Muratov on his win.
'We can congratulate Dmitry Muratov,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. 'He persistently works in accordance with his own ideals, he is devoted to them, he is talented, he is brave.'
Meanwhile Philippines journalist Maria Ressa was awarded the prize for starting investigative news website Rappler which examines corruption and has exposed President Rodrigo Duterte's violent war on drugs.
Reiss-Andersen added: 'At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.'
The prize is the first for journalists since the German Carl von Ossietzky won it in 1935 for revealing his country's secret post-war rearmament programme.
'Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda,' Reiss-Andersen said.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
Philippines journalist Maria Ressa was also awarded the prize for starting investigative news website Rappler which examines corruption
Journalist Maria Ressa's work has exposed President Rodrigo Duterte's (pictured) violent war on drugs
Responding to the award, Ressa told Rappler: 'I don't think this is me, I think this is Rappler. I have – we have – all along said this since 2016, that that we are fighting for facts.
'And when we live in a world where facts are debatable, when the world's largest distributor of news prioritises the spread of lives laced with anger and hate, and spreads it faster and further than facts, then journalism becomes activism.
'And that's the transformation that we've gone through in Rappler ... How do we do what we do? How can journalists continue the mission of journalism? Why is it so difficult to continue telling the community, telling the world, what the facts are, right?
'So in a battle for facts, I guess what this just shows is that that the Nobel peace prize committee realised that a world without facts means a world without truth and trust.'
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