NEW YORK, June 21, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Dmitry Muratov, the Russian editor-in-
chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, on Monday auctioned off his
Nobel Peace Prize gold medal for a whopping $103.5 million to benefit
children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

The medal was sold to an as yet unidentified phone bidder at the sale in New
York organized by Heritage Auctions.

The sale was a spirited one, with lots of applause and bidders egging one
another on to increase the total. Muratov was seen recording videos of the
bidding screen and those in the room.

When the final bid came in, at tens of millions of dollars more than the
previous offer, many in the room expressed shock, including Muratov himself.

"I'm just like you in that regard," he told AFP, speaking through a
translator after the sale.

Muratov won the prize in 2021 alongside journalist Maria Ressa of the
Philippines, with the committee honoring the pair "for their efforts to
safeguard freedom of expression."

He was among a group of journalists who founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 after
the fall of the Soviet Union.

This year, it became the only major newspaper left voicing criticism of
President Vladimir Putin and his tactics inside and outside the country.

In March, more than a month into Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Novaya Gazeta
suspended operations in Russia, after Moscow adopted legislation providing
for tough jail terms against anyone criticizing the Kremlin's bloody military
campaign.

In April, Muratov was assaulted on a train when a person threw oil-based
paint mixed with acetone on him, causing his eyes to burn.

Muratov's medal was available to bidders both in person and online, with all
proceeds going to UNICEF's Humanitarian Response for Ukrainian Children
Displaced by War.

When asked why he chose UNICEF as the recipient of the funds, Muratov said:
"It's critical to us that that organization does not belong to any
government. It can work above government. There are no borders for it."

- 'We must stay in our jobs' -

Since 2000, six of Novaya Gazeta's journalists and collaborators have been
killed in connection with their work, including investigative reporter Anna
Politkovskaya.

Muratov dedicated his Nobel prize to their memory.

On Monday, he hailed the persistence of journalists as an important check on
governments, and one way that war can be prevented.

"So no matter how many times each one of us wants to turn in our notice and
quit, we must stay in our jobs," he told AFP.

Speaking in a video released by Heritage in connection with the sale, the
prominent journalist said that winning the Nobel "gives you an opportunity to
be heard."

"The most important message today is for people to understand that there's a
war going on and we need to help people who are suffering the most," he said.