Ukrainian NGO wins Nobel Peace Prize

115
1
Ukrainian NGO wins Nobel Peace Prize

KYIV: The Center for Civil Liberties of Kyiv-based Center for Civil Liberties has run successful campaigns for political prisoners, tracked disappearances and focused on Russian war crimes, but they didn't see a Nobel Peace Prize coming.

The NGO won the first peace prize in Ukraine on Friday, sharing the award with Belarusian and Russian co-winners.

The Norwegian Nobel committee announcement sparked surprise and joy at the centre.

When we found out the news, we were amazed," CCL's Anna Trushova told AFP.

The group was set up in 2007 and led by rights defender Oleksandra Matviychuk, a lawyer who turns 38 on Saturday.

It is above all a reward for Oleksandra who gathers around her incredible people and does a great job in the field of human rights, CCL board member Alissa Malytska told AFP.

Matviychuk, who was on her way from Poland to Ukraine when she heard about the news, said in a Facebook message she was delighted We need to create an international tribunal and bring Putin, Lukashenko and other war criminals to justice.

After 2014, CCL gained prominence by raising awareness about Ukrainian political prisoners and prisoners in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine - including the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region, as well as Russia itself.

He directed Rhino, which was screened at the Venice film festival in 2021.