Wikileaks nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

[Karmakaze]

Julian Assange and his Wikileaks organization has been nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, according to Snorre Valen, a member of Norwegian Parliament. Late Wednesday night, Valen wrote that he was nominating the whistle-blower organization for its release of classified government material, some of which helped overthrow Tunisia’s head of state.

“Publishing material that is deemed classified by the government is an obvious right that newspapers and media have practiced for many, many decades,” Valen wrote on his blog. “It would be a crime to ban or oppose the right to publish such information. It should instead be protected, regardless of what we might think of the contents of some (or even all) of the published material.”

The twenty-four year old politician also referenced Liu Xiabao, saying that the prize has been awarded despite how some countries view the recipient. In 2009, Xiabao was sentenced to eleven years in Chinese prison for writing a manifesto calling for democratic reform in China.

“Liu Xiabao was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his struggle for human rights, democracy and freedom of speech in China,” he wrote. “Likewise: Wikileaks have contributed to the struggle for those very values globally, by exposing (among many other things) corruption, war crimes and torture – some times even conducted by allies of Norway.”

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel prizes that is awarded every December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, with a diploma and a check for $1.6 million. Previous Nobel Peace Prize winners include Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa.

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I don't know what to think of this entirely. I'm always wishywashy over Wikileaks.