Swedish parliament speaker blocks «Alternative Nobel Prize» ceremony

Stockholm (dpa) - Swedish lawmakers have criticized a decision by parliamentary speaker Urban Ahlin to block the Right Livelihood Award ceremony from being held in parliament, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported Saturday.The award, established in 1980 to honour those tackling "the human challenges of today‘s world," is also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize" and has been handed out in Sweden‘s parliament every year since 1985."Parliament is not a conference centre for external actors," Ahlin, a Social Democrat, told SVT about the decision, adding that he had consulted other parties.The December award ceremony is due to take place about three months after winners are announced.The annual award ceremony had been initially allowed under an exemption, but "there are now more parties in parliament and greater demand for parliament‘s facilities," Ahlin added.The speaker‘s explanation did not convince Right Livelihood Foundation director Ole von Uexkull, who told dpa the organization had seen internal booking schedules that showed the venue usually used for the ceremony was "free 90 per cent of the time."Von Uexkull said he believed Ahlin cancelled the award ceremony because of its "politically controversial laureates," including fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who won in 2014.Holding the award ceremony in parliament is important, von Uexkull said, because winners receive extra attention and protection, as many live under threat for their activism.Legislator Eva-Lena Jansson, a fellow Social Democrat, told SVT she hoped a June 8 meeting with the parliament board would result in a new decision.Jansson heads a group in parliament, SARLA, that supports the prize. It comprises seven of the eight parties in parliament with the exception of the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats.Prior award winners include Snowden and former editor of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger, for their work exposing data-collection programmes used by the US National Security Agency (NSA), and Denis Mukwege, a doctor from the Democratic Republic of Congo for helping treat thousands of mass rape victims.