"I can't take credit for this. This is Novaya Gazeta's," Muratov was cited by Russian news agency TASS as saying.

He said the award was for people who "died defending the right of people to freedom of speech."

Since 2000, six of Novaya Gazeta's journalists and contributors have been killed in connection with their work, including investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the most prominent among them.

Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of Putin and the Kremlin's wars in Chechnya, was shot dead on October 7, 2006, in the entrance hall of her apartment block in central Moscow. She was 48 years old.

On Thursday, Muratov presided over ceremonies at the newspaper's editorial offices to honour Politkovskaya.

The 59-year-old, who has served several times as Novaya Gazeta's editor since 1995, said he will give some of his prize money to a foundation dedicated to children with rare illnesses.

The foundation, Krug Dobra -- or Circle of Kindness -- was founded in January at the behest of President Vladimir Putin.