Its leader is wanted in the US and Sweden, there is a price on his head in the UK – but never mind – a Nobel Peace Prize might help quell the din.The founder of whistleblower site Wikileaks has got a nod from for a prestigious Nobel peace prize by a Danish politician, Snorre Valen, a member of the ruling Socialist Left Party , comparing him to last year’s winner Chinese dissidant Liu Xiaobo.
In his blog he praised the website it for its contribution “to the struggle for those very values globally, by exposing (among many other things) corruption, war crimes and torture – sometimes even conducted by allies of Norway”.
Julian Assange, who is an Australian citizen, has been lambasted by the US on charges of leaking confidential government communications about the Iraq war and other sensitive information.
However, popular opinion suggests the nomination is a novelty rather than the real deal and will not do the business when the 2011 prize winner is announced in October.
Kristian Berg-Harpviken, director for the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said he was ” pretty sure Mr. Assange will be nominated, but that he will not receive the prize,” he told The Foreigner.
Last year Wikileaks released a whole slew of diplomatic exchanges proving a nightmare for some of the the most powerful countriesin the world.
Politicans, academics and international institutes are all allowed nominate for the Prize, the winner of which will be announced in October.
