Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser is one of the winners, along with his wife Louise, of this years, alternative Nobel prise, the right Livelihood award. The award will be presented in Sweden
The CBC
reports that one of the winners of this year’s alternative Nobel, which is more properly known as the
Right Livelihood Award, is Canadian farmer
Percy Schmeiser. Schmeiser is the Saskatchewan farmer who waged a long and very public legal battle with Monsanto.
The award is being given to both Schmeiser and his wife Louise at the Swedish parliament. The Schmeisers are being recognized "for their courage in defending biodiversity and farmers' rights, and challenging the environmental and moral perversity of current interpretations of patent laws."
The Right Livelihood Award was founded in 1980 to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today."
Monsanto had sued Schmeiser for illegally planting is genetically engineered canola seed and Schmeiser countered that the seed had blown onto his property and polluted his field.
Canada’s Supreme Court upheld Monsanto’s patent in 2004 but ruled that ruled Schmeiser didn't have to pay $200,000 in costs and damages.
At a recent press conference Schmeiser said, "But governments from around the world have bowed to the pressure of big multinational corporations who have requested patents on life forms.”
Christopher Weeramantry, a former International Court of Justice judge from Sri Lanka; Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, who promotes religious peace in Kenya; and Dipal Barua, the director of the Grameen Shakti company that installs solar home systems in rural Bangladesh also won the 2007 Right Livelihood Award.
