Peace Prize award ceremony held at Tretyakov Gallery

The Peace Prize award ceremony was held at the conference hall of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on March 10. This prize is instituted by the Coalition of Chechen and Russian NGOs "Yalta Initiative for Peace in Chechnya". It was presented in our country for the first time. Twelve people who have been working in the field of peacemaking for a long time and have been advocating nonviolent approaches to the resolution of the Chechen conflict nominated for the prize.

Elena Batenkova, one of the three initiators of the antiwar picket on Pushkinskaya Square, and Abdulla Khamzayev, a known lawyer who have been representing victims of war crimes for a long time already, became Peace Prize laureates for their contribution to the cause of bringing peace to the North Caucasus. The Prizes of Honor were presented to the families of Zura Bitiyeva and Viktor Popkov, killed peacemakers, out-of-competition.

Graham Dyson, Director of the Center for Conflict Management, which promoted the creation of the Coalition, specially came from Norway to attend the award ceremony. Lord Judd, a member of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), was expected to be another honorary guest, but he was not able to arrive in Moscow because of sudden problems with his visa.

The opening of the exhibition of works by laureates of the competition of children's drawings "Restore Peace to Us!" was timed to the prize presentation. Drawings made by students from Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Moscow devoted to peacemaking are presented at the exhibition.

Editors note: See also the articles "Final ceremony of Peace Prize competition to take place on March 10", "Lord Judd denied Russian visa", "Abdullah Khamzaev awarded Peace Prize".