A New York-based private foundation says its annual Civil Courage Prize will go this year to a Burmese democracy activist who was released last year after serving a 15-year prison term.
The Northcote Parkinson Fund chose Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 1988 nonviolent uprising against Burma's military dictatorship, to receive the 2005 prize.
Min Ko Naing has declined a 25,000-dollar award that accompanies the Civil Courage Prize, the foundation says, so the award will be donated to a worthy non-profit organization.
As a student in the 1980s, Min Ko Naing organized a nationwide student union to oppose military rule. In 1988 the union coordinated a nationwide non-violent uprising that was crushed by the military junta.
Min Ko Naing was arrested the following year and imprisoned until his release last November.
The prize will be presented in New York City on October 11.