//MTV honours 15-year old Anton Abele from Stockholm

This year’s Free Your Mind Award raises awareness of the ever growing problem of youth violence. The Award was first given at the inaugural MTV Music Awards in Berlin in 1994 and was created to raise awareness of key social and human rights issues. Past recipients have included Amnesty International (1994), Greenpeace (1995) and Aung San Suu Kyi (2003). On November 1st 2007, 15-year old Anton Abele from Stockholm will accept the award.

Snoop Dogg, who will give the award to Anton said: “I’ve seen the damage violence can do and learned the hard way that it’s not the answer to anything. I’m proud to honour a young man who’s willing to put himself on the line to spread that message.”

Following the death of a young boy, Riccardo at a birthday party in October 2007, Abele created a group on Facebook, “Bevara oss från gatuvåldet” (Save Us From Street Violence) which has attracted over 111,000 members to date. His actions also led to one of the largest public demonstrations in Swedish history in Kungsträdgården attended by 12,000 people.

The MTV Europe Music Award will be broadcast on Thursday 1st November at 9.00pm (CET) and 9.00pm (GMT).