SYDNEY: According to AFP reports,  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was Wednesday awarded the SydneyPeace Foundation’s top honour for “exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights”, joining the likes of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

The main reasons of giving award to Wikileaks founder is based on “”By championing people’s right to know, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have created the potential for a new order in journalism and in the free flow of information,” said foundation director Stuart Rees.

The foundation paid tribute to Assange’s determination to seek greater transparency and accountability from governments around the world, having challenged “centuries old practices of government secrecy”.

Assange, an Australian former computer hacker who is fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, was praised and rewarded with the Sydney Peace Prize’s Gold Medal.

Although the Peace Prize is awarded annually by the foundation only three other people in its 14-year history have been awarded the gold award for courage in pursuit of human rights: the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Japanese Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Sources from AFP News. 

Filed under: 1 General News, 3 World News |