Statement of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic for Human Rights and National Minorities Rudolf Chmel on awarding Nobel Prize for Peace in 2010

Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic for Human Rights and National Minorities Rudolf Chmel welcomes the decision of the Norwegian Nobel committee to award Nobel Prize for Peace to China dissident Liu Xiaobo. „Laureate of the most prestigious Nobel Prize is a firm advocate of the freedom of speech and free elections, values shared by the entire democratic world. Awarding the Nobel Prize to Liu Xiaobo is an evidence that political and economic aspects couldn´t be more importante than human rights and rule of law for the democratic world. Liu Xiaobo received an 11-year sentence just for drafting Charter 08 - which called for multi-party democracy and respect for human rights in China. The document adopted the name and style from the Charter 77 issued by dissidents in Czechoslovakia drawing the attention to the acts breaching the fundamental human rights. Awarding the Nobel Prize to Liu Xiaobo is a clear signal of supporting the democratisation of the society and also is a challenge of observing the human rights in the whole world“ – declared Mr Rudolf Chmel.

 

Bratislava, 8th October 2010