WIKIHERO

Assange Gets Australian Peace Prize

For "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can now add a peace prize to his list of achievements, along with allegations of sex crimes and the publishing of top-secret U.S. diplomatic cables. Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's gold medal in London and lauded for "challenging centuries old practices of government secrecy and by championing people's right to know." Director of the non-profit foundation Professor Stuart Rees spoke on behalf of his organization: "We believe the struggle for peace with justice inevitably involves conflict, inevitably involves controversy." He also condemned the U.S. as a "totalitarian state," and railed against American politicians' "violent behavior." Previous winners of the foundation's peace prize include Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.