WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has filed a legal complaint against the Nobel Foundation, seeking to halt payments to Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Assange argues Machado's public support for US President Donald Trump's military actions against Venezuela runs counter to the core principles of the Peace Prize.
In a statement shared by WikiLeaks on X, the organisation said Assange is attempting to prevent the Nobel Foundation from releasing more than $US1 million that Machado is set to receive.
The complaint cites Alfred Nobel's will, which stipulates the Peace Prize should be granted only to individuals who have "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind" by doing "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
"Assange today filed a criminal complaint in Sweden accusing 30 individuals associated with the Nobel Foundation, including its leadership, of committing serious suspected crimes, including the crime of gross misappropriation of funds, facilitation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the financing of the crime of aggression," the WikiLeaks statement said.
It said the foundation, by granting the prize to Machado, had turned "an instrument of peace into an instrument of war."
Those named in the complaint include Nobel Foundation Chair Astrid Soderbergh Widding and CEO Hanna Stjarne.
Assange argued Machado is "categorically ineligible" for the prize, accusing her of encouraging what he described as the largest US military build-up since the Iraq war.
As evidence, Assange pointed to her remarks in a television interview that she does not meet that standard. Appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday, Machado openly endorsed US President Donald Trump's hardline policies toward Venezuela, including intensified sanctions and the seizure of oil tankers.
"Look, I absolutely support President Trump's strategy, and we, the Venezuelan people, are very grateful to him and to his administration, because I believe he is a champion of freedom in this hemisphere," she said during the interview.
He alleged Machado has repeatedly urged the US government to adopt an increasingly aggressive stance toward Venezuela.
The complaint also challenges the disbursement of the prize's 11 million Swedish kronor, or about $US1.18 million ($A1.79 million), arguing that releasing the funds would constitute aggravated misappropriation.
It warns of a "real risk" the money could be diverted in ways that indirectly finance "war crimes," potentially violating Sweden's obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Assange is asking Swedish authorities to freeze the transfer of the prize money, demand the return of the Nobel medal, and open an investigation into the Foundation.
Machado is currently in Norway. She arrived on December 11 after travel delays prevented her from attending the award ceremony but later took part in official events in Oslo with family members and fellow Venezuelan opposition figures.
Australian Associated Press
