Julian Assange, the founder of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, has been awarded an award “for exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights”.
Julian Paul Assange ( born : 3 July 1971) is an Australian publisher,journalist, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks, with the stated purpose of creating open governments. Assange was a hacker in his youth, before becoming a computer programmer. He has lived in several countries and has made public appearances in many parts of the world to speak about freedom of the press, censorship and investigative journalism.
Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Medal at a formal ceremony at the Frontline Club in central London today.
The Sydney Peace Foundation forwarded the award to recognize Mr Assange for recognition of the need “for greater transparency and accountability of governments”.
Professor Stuart Rees, director of the foundation, said: “By challenging centuries old practices of government secrecy and 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.”
Speaking at the event, Mr Assange referred to whistleblowers as "heroes" and said it appeared the website has played a "significant role" in the recent Arab uprisings in north Africa by releasing US diplomatic cables in December that were later translated into Arabic and French.
He said WikiLeaks was part of historic British "free speech traditions, these go back in the UK to the time of the English Civil War of the 1640s". He said: “The real value of this award, and the Sydney Peace Foundation is that it makes explicit the link between peace and justice.
“It does not take the safe feel good option of shunning controversy by uttering platitudes. Instead it goes into difficult terrain by identifying organisations and individuals who are directly engaged in struggles of one kind or another.
Over the last few years WikiLeaks has caused controversy over the past year by releasing secret US Government documents including reports about detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables.
Mr Assange is currently staying in Norfolk while he fights extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual crimes, which he denies.
Julian Paul Assange ( born : 3 July 1971) is an Australian publisher,journalist, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks, with the stated purpose of creating open governments. Assange was a hacker in his youth, before becoming a computer programmer. He has lived in several countries and has made public appearances in many parts of the world to speak about freedom of the press, censorship and investigative journalism.
Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Medal at a formal ceremony at the Frontline Club in central London today.
The Sydney Peace Foundation forwarded the award to recognize Mr Assange for recognition of the need “for greater transparency and accountability of governments”.
Professor Stuart Rees, director of the foundation, said: “By challenging centuries old practices of government secrecy and 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.”
Speaking at the event, Mr Assange referred to whistleblowers as "heroes" and said it appeared the website has played a "significant role" in the recent Arab uprisings in north Africa by releasing US diplomatic cables in December that were later translated into Arabic and French.
He said WikiLeaks was part of historic British "free speech traditions, these go back in the UK to the time of the English Civil War of the 1640s". He said: “The real value of this award, and the Sydney Peace Foundation is that it makes explicit the link between peace and justice.
“With WikiLeaks we are all engaged in a struggle, a generational struggle for a proposition that citizens have a right and a duty to scrutinise the state."
“It does not take the safe feel good option of shunning controversy by uttering platitudes. Instead it goes into difficult terrain by identifying organisations and individuals who are directly engaged in struggles of one kind or another.
Over the last few years WikiLeaks has caused controversy over the past year by releasing secret US Government documents including reports about detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables.
Mr Assange is currently staying in Norfolk while he fights extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual crimes, which he denies.
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