Russian Nobel laureate auctioning medal to benefit Ukraine

Russian Nobel laureate auctioning medal to benefit Ukraine

2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, shown here in Geneva in May 2022, will auction off his award medal to benefit children displaced by the war in Ukraine
2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, shown here in Geneva in May 2022, will auction off his award medal to benefit children displaced by the war in Ukraine. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see YEN.com.gh News on your News Feed!

Dmitry Muratov, the Russian editor in chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, on Monday will auction off his Nobel Peace Prize gold medal to benefit children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

Muratov won the prize in 2021 alongside journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, with the committee honoring them "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression."

Muratov's paper in March suspended operations in Russia, after Moscow adopted legislation providing for tough jail terms against anyone criticizing the Kremlin's bloody military campaign in Ukraine.

Muratov was among a group of journalists who founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union. This year it became the only major newspaper left voicing criticism of President Vladimir Putin and his tactics inside and outside the country.

Read also

China offers to mediate Horn of Africa disputes

The announcement that it was suspending operations came more than a month into Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Heritage Auctions is handling the sale of Muratov's Nobel Medal, which is on the block both online and in person, with the final sale slated for Monday evening in Manhattan.

PAY ATTENTION: check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

As of Monday morning the bid stood at $550,000. The proceeds will go to UNICEF's Humanitarian Response for Ukrainian Children Displaced by War.

In April Muratov was assaulted on a train when a person threw oil-based paint mixed with acetone on him, causing his eyes to burn.

Since 2000, six of Novaya Gazeta's journalists and collaborators have been killed in connection with their work, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya.

Muratov has dedicated his Nobel Prize to their memory.

Read also

Assange's family call on Germany to take up his cause

"This newspaper is dangerous for people's lives," Muratov told AFP last year. "We are not going anywhere."

Speaking in a video released by Heritage, the prominent journalist said that winning the Nobel "gives you an opportunity to be heard."

"The most important message today is for people to understand that there's a war going on and we need to help people who are suffering the most," he continued, pointing specifically to children in refugee families.

PAY ATTENTION: check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.