Myanmar's Suu Kyi to receive Mahatma Gandhi peace award

Myanmar's pro-democracy icon and leading human rights activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, will receive this year's Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation.

The award ceremony will take place in Durban, South Africa on July 20.

The top peace award named after Mahatma Gandhi, according to the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation in South Africa, will be bestowed to Suu Kyi for her struggle for peace and justice despite being in detention for nearly two decades.

The prize, also known as the MAGI Award, was created in 2003 to mark the centenary of a newspaper, Indian Opinion, published in South Africa by Mahatma Gandhi.

The award is bestowed upon people who have committed to non-violence, peace and justice.

The foundation chairman Ela Gandhi meanwhile called for the release of the 63-year-old peace activist and praised her for promoting "non-violence in order to bring about peace and justice" in Burma.

Suu Kyi, who has previously received more than 80 international awards, including Nobel Peace Prize, is currently facing charges of violating her house arrest.

The Nobel peace prize laureate has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention for opposing the Burmese military regime and demanding a democratic rule.