A Russian human rights veteran and her group, Memorial, were nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, Russian media reported on Wednesday.
Other candidates for the $1.4 million prize include a jailed Chinese dissident and the Internet for promoting dialogue and democracy.
Russia's Svetlana Gannushkina was nominated by Norwegian politician Erna Solberg.
"I regard the nomination as reaction to the vulnerability of people in this country to arbitrary rule by authorities and to crime groups," Gannushkina told the BaltInfo agency adding her work has been an indispensible part of Memorial's activities.
Russia's leading rights organization came to media spotlight after the murder of its activist in the troubled North Caucasus republic of Chechnya in July and over an ensuing legal battle with the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who sued the group for libel after being accused of his role in the murder.
The group resumed activities in Chechnya late last year after suspending work for a short time, citing a growing risk to its staff following the murder.
At Memorial, which originally focused on the protection of victims of political reprisals, Gannushkina oversees migrants and refugees' rights, and is a member of the presidential human rights body.
Memorial was nominated for the prize in 2008 by European Parliament lawmakers.
"I do not consider my chances to win as too high," Gannushkina told BaltInfo.
Princeton philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah proposed China's Liu Xiaobo, who had been sentenced to 11 years in jail, for his contribution to human rights and freedom of expression, GZT.ru reported. Beijing said "it would be totally wrong" to give the prize to such a person.
The other known candidate for the prize is a former Illinois governor George Ryan, now in prison on corruption charges. Illinois university professor Francis Boyle, who nominated him, explained his choice that Ryan had proposed banning capital punishment.
The Internet was proposed by Wired Magazine, an Italian edition. There is no information on how Internet would receive the prize or who would receive the prize on behalf of it.
Last year's winner of the prestigious prize was U.S. President Barack Obama, who received the award less than a year after he took office. The Nobel Committee said it had chosen Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in October.
MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti)
