Hong Kong people nominated for Nobel peace prize

Two million people were said to have marched through the streets of Hong Kong on June 16 against the government's extradition bill. File photo: AFP

A Norwegian member of parliament says she has nominated the people of Hong Kong for next year's Nobel peace prize.



Guri Melby, a Liberal Party politician in Oslo, said Hongkongers "risk their lives and security every day to stand up for freedom of speech and basic democracy" and she hopes her move will be further encouragement to the ongoing movement.



In a post on social media, Melby said that what the people of Hong Kong are doing matters far beyond the SAR itself, and affects the region and the entire world.



Norway's Aftenposten newspaper reported that the MP added that she hopes protesters will continue their fight in a non-violent way.



Towards the end of last month, Melby had visited Hong Kong where she was briefed on the latest situation by IT sector lawmaker Charles Mok and Civic Party legislator Dennis Kwok.



Last year, a US congressional group nominated Occupy protest leaders Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow and the entire 2014 umbrella movement for the peace prize.



Members of national assemblies form a large part of the list of people who are allowed to make nominations for the prestigious award, with others including university professors and previous winners.



When it comes to the eligibility criteria for being nominated, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects peace prize laureates, only stipulates that people cannot nominate themselves.



A total of 301 nominations were made for this year's prize, which went to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who had made peace last year with the country's bitter foe, Eritrea.