WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a criminal complaint in Sweden this week against the Nobel Foundation, challenging its decision to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. The complaint alleges the award constitutes a “gross misappropriation” of funds and the “facilitation of war crimes” under Swedish law, and it seeks to freeze the prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.18 million).
The complaint, filed on Wednesday, names 30 individuals connected to the Nobel Foundation. According to documents submitted by Assange, the foundation is accused of misappropriating funds and facilitating crimes against humanity by awarding the prize to Machado. The complaint argues that by honoring Machado, the foundation converted “an instrument of peace into an instrument of war.”
Assange’s legal filing claims that Machado’s public support for potential U.S. military intervention to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power violates the conditions set forth in the will of Alfred Nobel, the prize’s founder. The complaint cites Nobel’s 1895 will, which mandates the prize be given to the person who has done “the most or the best work for fraternity between nations.”
The Nobel Committee announced in October that it had awarded the prize to Machado for her work “promoting democratic rights” and efforts toward a peaceful political transition in Venezuela.
Machado has publicly supported the foreign policy of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration regarding Venezuela. That policy has included economic sanctions and military deployments in the Caribbean, which U.S. officials have described as counter-narcotics operations targeting assets linked to the Maduro government.
The complaint filed by Assange argues that Machado’s support for such actions “categorically exclude[s]” her from consideration for the award. A statement from WikiLeaks added there is a “real risk” the prize funds could be “diverted from their charitable purpose to facilitate aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.”
While the Nobel Peace Prize is selected by a Norwegian committee in Oslo, the complaint targets the Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation, arguing it holds financial responsibility for the disbursement of the prize money. Swedish police confirmed to the AFP news agency that they had received the complaint.
Assange founded the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in 2006. He was released from a London prison in 2024 as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department. He pleaded guilty to a single count under the Espionage Act related to the publication of classified U.S. military documents and returned to his home country of Australia.
