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OSLO, Norway – A Norwegian human rights foundation gave its annual award Thursday to jailed Cuban dissident leader Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara for his “fearless opposition to authoritarianism through art.”
Four past laureates of the Rafto prize – Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, East Timor’s Jose Ramos-Horta, South Korea’s Kim Dae-jung and Iran’s Shirin Ebadi – later won the Nobel Peace Prize.
This year’s Peace Prize will be announced on October 11 in Oslo.
“The Rafto 2024 prize aims to highlight the importance of the work of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and other artists in challenging power structures and the defense of democracy and human rights, both in Cuba and in the world,” the Norwegian foundation said in a statement.
A Cuban court sentenced the artist-dissident in 2022 to five years in prison in a high-profile case that human rights groups described as a “farce” but that Cuban state media said was a fair trial for “common crimes.”
The 36-year-old artist was a prominent member of Havana’s San Isidro Movement, an artist collective that led a number of protests over two years. Many of the group have since left Cuba, alleging government repression.
On Thursday, the Rafto foundation called on the Cuban government to release him, joining similar calls from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
The graduate receives a diploma and a prize of $20,000.