85 Year-old Mandela’s Lawyer, Nali Pillay Wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

85 Year-old Lawyer won defended Nelson Mandela, Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has emerged winner of 2026 Novel Peace Prize.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement on Friday in Oslo.

The Committee said the award would go to the South African jurist for her work to promote peace and international law.

The Committee explained that Pillay, a former United Nations high commissioner for human rights, had been instrumental in ensuring war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.

According to them, At a time of existential challenges – including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time – international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity.

Committee Chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes said the system of international law was “under tremendous pressure” and its institutions were “under attack”. It is judges, he continued, “who guard the thin red line between order and chaos

Reacting to her Nobel win,  the South African Jurist said she would “dedicate this award to all of the survivors of international crimes”.

Pillar made her statement in the historic courtroom in Germany’s Nuremberg where the trials prosecuting Nazi leaders after World War II were held.

She later served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court and as the UN’s rights chief.

Al-Jazeera