SYRACUSE: US President Donald Trump criticised the Nobel Peace Prize decision on Friday after South African jurist Navi Pillay won, accusing its decision-makers of being anti-democratic and attacking Norway.
Speaking at a campaign rally in New York, Trump described the choice as disgraceful and embarrassing. He argued that the decision had permanently stained Norway’s reputation.
Pillay, 85, received the award for her efforts to promote peace and international law. In its announcement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee warned that international legal institutions faced severe pressure.
It cautioned against replacing legal frameworks and respect for justice with power politics.
Trump dismissed Pillay as someone he did not know.
“I never heard of the person. Nobody did,” he said.
He accused the committee of ideological hostility to democracy and argued that its decision had discredited the prize.
Trump has repeatedly sought recognition for his diplomatic efforts. At Friday’s rally, he claimed to have helped resolve or prevent conflicts involving North and South Korea, Japan and North Korea, and China and Taiwan. He supplied no evidence for those assertions.
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Pillay previously served as a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and as United Nations high commissioner for human rights. Her career has included work on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which prosecuted crimes from the 1994 genocide.
She chaired a UN commission investigating the occupied Palestinian territory. That commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel rejected.
Separately, Washington has imposed sanctions on the ICC and opposed its actions involving Israeli leaders.
The peace prize is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10.
(With input from Reuters and Associated Press)
