(Reuters) - WikiLeaks' Australian founder Julian Assange, who enraged Washington by publishing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, was given a peace award on Tuesday for "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights."
Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's gold medal in London, only the fourth to be handed out in its 14-year history. The not-for-profit organization associated with the University of Sydney, is supported by the City of Sydney.
Currently fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, the computer expert was praised for "challenging centuries old practices of government secrecy and by championing people's right to know."
"We think the struggle for peace with justice inevitably involves conflict, inevitably involves controversy," the foundation's director Professor Stuart Rees said.
"We think that you and WikiLeaks have brought about what we think is a watershed in journalism and in freedom of information and potentially in politics."
He also criticized the Australian government, saying it must stop shoring up Washington's efforts to "behave like a totalitarian state," and said it was "appalled by the violent behavior by major politicians in the United States."
