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Muneer A. Malik |
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A Pakistani human rights activist and fighter for democracy will receive the 2008 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, the May 18 Memorial Foundation said Thursday.
The foundation named Muneer A. Malik, 58, as the winner of the prize, which will be awarded on May 18 in a ceremony to commemorate the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, a pro-democracy movement in 1980 in which hundreds of citizens were killed.
The prize acknowledges individuals, groups or institutions that have contributed to promoting human rights and democracy.
Malik, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, has played a role in the struggle of lawyers, judges and citizens of Pakistan for independence of the judiciary. Under his leadership, lawyers and the people fought against repression by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
In the 1980s, Malik spearheaded the struggle against the military rule of then president Zia Ul Haq.
He was awarded the 2006 Dorab Patel Award by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Malik will receive a medal, a certificate of achievement and $50,000 prize money.
The Gwangju foundation was organized in 1994 by surviving victims of the uprising, victims' families and Gwangju citizens, to commemorate the spirit of democracy and solidarity of the uprising.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
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