Russian journalist and media editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was awarded “for efforts to protect freedom of expression, which is a prerequisite for democracy and lasting peace”. Mr. Muratov became the third Russian citizen to receive this award. Together with him, the award was given to the Filipino journalist Maria Ressa. The 2021 ceremony proved that it makes little sense to make predictions about who will get the prize. Among the favorites, the media named the World Health Organization (WHO), Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, participant in the presidential elections in Belarus-2020 Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, environmental activist Greta Thunberg and US President Joe Biden.

Speaking to the journalists, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, announced the winners of this year: Filipino journalist Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, one of the founders and editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta. Mr. Muratov is the third Russian in history to be awarded the Peace Prize, before that the prize was given to human rights activist Andrei Sakharov and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

This year’s prize has been awarded “for efforts to protect freedom of expression, which is a prerequisite for democracy and lasting peace”.

“Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are honored for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen.

And she added that “at the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who support these ideas in our world, where conditions are increasingly unfavorable for democracy and freedom of the media.”