The Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 was awarded Friday to jailed Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski, Russian human rights organization Memorial, and Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.
“The Peace Prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries,” the Nobel Prize website said in its statement announcing the winners.
“They have for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses, and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”
The winners were formally announced in Oslo on Friday by Norwegian Nobel Committee head Berit Reiss-Andersen.
Bialiatski has been imprisoned for tax evasion since July 2021. Human rights activists believe his detention is politically motivated and consider him to be a prisoner of conscience.