Assange gets peace medal

JULIAN Assange should be venerated alongside Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, according to the Sydney Peace Foundation.

JULIAN Assange should be venerated alongside Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, according to the Sydney Peace Foundation, which yesterday announced it was honouring him with its gold medal.

The foundation's director, Stuart Rees, told The Australian the award was far more significant than the organisation's annual peace prize because it was handed out so rarely. Mr Assange will be only the fourth recipient in 14 years.

"We think the WikiLeaks revelations and the courage to persist with them is a watershed in the struggle for freedom of expression, for freedom of speech, and that for the first time in decades, if not in centuries, the secret power of governments, of military, of business, is starting to be unveiled," he said.

Professor Rees said the release of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables, leaked from the US State Department, and before that of the Iraq and Afghan war logs, had had a seismic effect on the world order.

"It's as though we've been hoodwinked for about, up to several centuries - allowing the people in power to do as they like, allegedly in our interests," he said.

Mr Assange is currently on bail in England awaiting an extradition hearing to face allegations of rape in Sweden, and also faces possible indictment for treason by a US grand jury.

Professor Rees denied these allegations undermined Mr Assange's candidacy to receive an award for peace, pointing out that Mr Assange had not been charged or faced criminal trial.

"Those issues of the European arrest warrant were not of concern to our executive," Professor Rees said. "The judgment is about the significance of the WikiLeaks revelations."

Professor Rees said the prize would not be withdrawn if Mr Assange were found guilty of rape: "We're not that gutless."

Yesterday Julia Gillard again said in response to questions that there was nothing Australia could or should do about Mr Assange's case. The Prime Minister said the charges had to run their course.

WikiLeaks subsequently released an open letter signed by a solicitor from the NSW Supreme Court on its website that called on the government to intervene on Mr Assange's behalf.

AMOS AIKMAN