Copenhagen, Feb 20 (EFE).- Australian journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize by a Norwegian parliamentarian, Norway’s Dagbladet newspaper reported Tuesday.
“Assange has exposed Western war crimes and thus contributed to peace. If we want to avoid war, then we must know the truth about the damage that war brings,” the parliamentarian from the left-wing Red Party, Sofie Marhaug, was quoted as saying by Dagbladet.
“Assange should be praised for his contribution to peace,” Marhaug said, adding that instead, he is facing political persecution.
“The West shouts loudly when other countries do this, but does not want any attention when it happens in our sphere,” she said.
“By awarding the peace prize to Assange, the Nobel Institute sends a clear message that we do not accept double standards.”
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom High Court in London will begin the two-day hearing of Assange’s appeal against his extradition to the United States, where he faces more than 18 criminal charges for violating the Espionage Act and could face up to 175 years in prison.
Since 2019, the Australian journalist has been held in London’s high-security Berlmarsh prison after the Ecuadorian embassy in London withdrew the political asylum it granted him in 2012.
Assange, 53, is accused of his alleged role in obtaining and subsequently publishing on the WikiLeaks website classified documents related to US national defense, including evidence exposing human rights violations committed by the US military in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange, who claims that the case against him is politically motivated, has fragile mental health and is at risk of committing suicide if his appeal is rejected, according to his lawyers.
Candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize are nominated by university professors, parliamentarians, former laureates, and members of international tribunals, among others.
Only if the nominators make it public, the identity of the nominees can be known, as the Norwegian Nobel Committee provides details of the contenders only 50 years later.
The Peace Prize is awarded every year in the Norwegian capital Oslo on Dec. 10, coinciding with the death anniversary of its founder Alfred Nobel.
Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her defense of women’s rights in the Persian country. EFE
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