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Julian Assange explains why Nobel prize’s latest move must be challenged

Journalist Julian Assange has launched a legal case against the Nobel Peace Prize for its latest move to enable the resource grabs of US war criminals. In it, he sets out why it’s so important to challenge the prize’s “serious criminality”.

Nobel prize for “aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes”?

Assange, whose political punishment for exposing US war crimes lasted 14 years, has submitted his case to the Swedish Economic Crime Authority and Swedish War Crimes Unit. He says these have the duty to ensure the appropriate carrying out of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will. And he argues this is not happening.

Norway, which was in a union with Sweden during Nobel’s life, and so got the responsibility of awarding the peace prize. But Assange claims the Norwegian committee is misusing Nobel’s money to promote war and serve as:

a tool in foreign military intervention.

He points out that the US under Donald Trump has already been committing “undeniable war crimes” against Venezuela to regain control of its massive oil resources, and that the US nominated billionaire lackey and extreme privatiser María Corina Machado for the Nobel prize. Machado backs US piracy, which is blatant:

By choosing Machado, Assange insists, the Norwegian committee was essentially hyping up a moral case for regime-changing Venezuela. And the Swedish fund administrators have a duty to step in and challenge the shameful political decision to crown Machado. Assange calls this a criminal act, saying:

The pending transfer of 11 million SEK ($1.18 million USD) and existing 10 December 2025 handover of the prize medal to María Corina Machado, in violation of this disbursement restriction, appear to be acts of serious criminality.

Why? Because:

There is a real risk that funds derived from Nobel’s endowment have been or will be intentionally or negligently diverted from their charitable purpose to facilitate aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The case seeks:

the immediate freezing of all remaining funds and a full criminal investigation

Will Swedish authorities step in?

Swedish prosecutors previously faced serious criticism for their cooperation with US interests and apparent manipulation of sexual abuse allegations against Julian Assange. UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer later described how this fed into attempts to normalise Assange’s political persecution for his important journalistic work.

Fearing Sweden would extradite him to the US, which wanted to charge him with espionage for exposing war crimes, he claimed asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He stayed in confinement there from 2012 to 2019, which lawyers called “inhumane“.

Swedish prosecutors dropped their probe into rape in 2019 after UK authorities finally arrested Assange. Following five years in a high-security prison, the journalist accepted a plea deal with the US to avoid extradition. The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly and others said he had been a “political prisoner”.

Upon Assange’s release, women’s rights campaigners lamented that Assange had never faced the allegations of sexual offences in Sweden. One of the complainants against him, meanwhile, said:

I’m happy that he is out and hope he can fight for transparency and human rights, without molesting women.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.