A Norwegian lawmaker Snorre Valen has nominated WikiLeaks for the Nobel Peace Prize 2011. 26 year-old Valen is also a Parliamentarian and a member of Norway’s Socialist Left Party.
Valen disclosed his decision of nominating WikiLeaks in his blog post. He said:
“WikiLeaks have contributed to the struggle for [human rights, democracy and freedom of speech] globally, by exposing (among many other things) corruption, war crimes and torture — some times even conducted by allies of Norway. The disclosure of classified documents also promote world peace by holding governments accountable for their actions.”
Valen also mentioned the role of WikiLeaks in bringing down nepotistic and corrupted regime of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia.
The prize committee received over 200 names (Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva, Afghan human rights advocate Sima Samar, and several rights groups including U.S.-based Wings of Hope and Cuban opposition movement Damas de Blanco are also amongst the nominees) for the 2011 award. The nomination period ended on Tuesday and the winner will be announced in October.
Note: The winner of the award will also get $1.6 million in cash. 😀
