AltNews' Mohammed Zubair, Pratik Sinha among favourites to win Nobel Peace: Report

The co-founders of fact-checking site AltNews, Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, are one of the favourites to win the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, reported Time magazine.

Other favourites tipped to win this coveted peace prize include Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky (the bookmakers’ favourite), The UN Refugee Agency, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Greta Thunberg, David Attenborough and Russian dissenter and Vladimir Putin’s critic Alexey Navalny.

The favourites are selected from the nominations made public by Norwegian lawmakers, bookmakers predictions, and by names picked by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

Watch: AltNews’ Mohammed Zubair, Pratik Sinha among contenders for Nobel Peace Prize 2022

Zubair’s arrest – another low for India

Zubair was arrested in June this year for a 2018 tweet that was according to Delhi police, “highly provocative and more than sufficient to incite feelings of hatred”. He was charged for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and acts that outraged religious sentiments. Multiple FIRs were lodged against him in UP – two in Hathras and one each in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and at Chandauli police station – on similar charges.

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced at 11am local time on Friday in Oslo, Norway. Here are some of the favorites to win https://t.co/nF3RPBkoSe

— TIME (@TIME) October 5, 2022

His arrest was condemned globally and prompted the American non-profit Committee To Protect Journalists to state that it was another low for press freedom in India. And, that the Indian government has created a hostile and unsafe environment for members of the press reporting on sectarian issues.  Time described Zubair and Sinha as methodologically debunking rumours and fake news circulating on social media and calling out hate speech.

Also read: Know about Mohammed Zubair, fact-checker, AltNews co-founder

However, Zubair was granted bail by the Supreme Court and was released from Tihar Jail 24 days after his arrest.

Nobel Peace Prize 2022

There are about 343 candidates – 251 are individuals and 92 are organisations – that are being considered for the approximately $1 million award, the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022. The winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 7 in Oslo.

The Peace Research Institute Oslo—which researches peaceful relations between states, groups, and people—releases an annual personal shortlist for the Peace Prize. This year, their picks for the prize included some other names and groups, such as Indian activist Harsh Mander, the International Court of Justice, Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow Ting, and the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG).