AltNews journalists Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair and Indian author Harsh Mander were included in an unofficial shortlist for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, ahead of the winner’s announcement on October 7.
The TIME article notes that the list is based on “nominations made public through Norwegian lawmakers, bookmaker predictions, and selections from the Oslo Peace Research Institute.”
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, October 7. A committee of Norwegian lawmakers will choose the eventual winner.
AltNews co-founders among favourites
According to a “favorites” list compiled by Time magazine, the fact-checking duo have appeared on it based on nominations made public through Norwegian lawmakers, bookmaker predictions, and selections from the Oslo Peace Research Institute.
Fact-checking website AltNews co-founders Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair and Indian author Harsh Mander are among the favorites to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, according to an unofficial list released ahead of Friday’s announcement.
The two “have been relentlessly fighting disinformation in India” amid accusations of discrimination against Muslims “and methodologically debunking rumors and fake news circulating on social media and denouncing hate speech,” the publication said.
Zubair was arrested in June this year for a 2018 tweet that was “highly provocative and more than enough to incite hateful sentiments,” according to a Delhi Police First Information Report (FIR). The Delhi police charged him with promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion and deliberate acts to outrage religious sentiments.
The fact-checker’s arrest sparked global outrage, prompting the US nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists to issue a statement saying: “another low point for press freedom in India, where the government has created a hostile and unsafe environment for reporting members of the press.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 7 in Oslo, Norway. Before the announcement, predictions are made about who and which organizations are the favorites and finalists to win one of the world’s most prestigious awards.
Announce names of nominees
Although the Nobel Committee does not announce the names of the nominees, neither to the media nor to the candidates, a Reuters poll found that Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, broadcaster David Attenborough, climate activist Greta Thunberg, Pope Francis, Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe and Myanmar’s National Unity government are among those nominated by Norwegian lawmakers.
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Nomination and selection of Nobel Peace
“A nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize may be submitted by any person who meets the nomination criteria. A letter of invitation to submit is not required. The names of the nominees…cannot be revealed until 50 years later.”
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