Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay dedicates award to ‘survivors of international crime. Navi Pillay was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize this morning, unbeknownst to her.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee had been unable to reach Pillay who was eventually called away from her desk to be told she’d won the prestigious award. Pillay said she thought it “must be a joke”.
After being assured it must be true as “it’s on the BBC”, by someone stood off camera, Pillay went on to make an impromptu speech in front of her friends and colleagues.
In a more formal news conference later, Pillay dedicated her win to “all the survivors of international crime”.
The Nobel committee said she had been awarded the prize “for her efforts to promote peace and international law”.
In announcing the award in Oslo earlier, the committee’s chair, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, said Pillay had a firm moral compass and that she had led the way to a more comprehensive legal order.
Pillay, 85, was the first non-white woman to be appointed a High Court Judge in South Africa and went on told hold positions in the United Nations and International Criminal Court.
She is currently currently a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide.
SOURCE: bbc.com