Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of newspaper Novaya Gazeta and co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has said he will donate his award to be auctioned to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees.
“Novaya Gazeta and I have decided to donate the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Medal to the Ukrainian Refugee Fund,” Muratov said in an article published in the newspaper.
“There are already over 10 million refugees. I ask the auction houses to respond and put up for auction this world-famous award,” he added, AlJAzeera reports.
On Oct 10, 2021, the awards committee, based in Oslo, Norway, handed the prestigious prize to Dmitry Muratov, 59, for the paper’s reporting on human rights, freedom of speech and other politically sensitive topics.
Muratov said the award was the achievement of the whole Novaya Gazeta team, including the six journalists who have been killed since the paper launched in 1993.
“I can't take credit for this. This is Novaya Gazeta's. It is for those who died defending the right of people to freedom of speech. It is for Igor Domnikov, Yura Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Nastya Baburova, Natasha Estemirova, and Stas Markelov,” he said, naming the slain Novaya Gazeta reporters. “This is for them.”
