Attendees of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights award ceremony held in Korea in May faced an 'empty' stage because two of its intended recipients faced travel bans from their respective governments.

Today, five months later, Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah finally received her award, from May 18 Memorial Foundation executive director Kim Yang Rae at a ceremony held at Vistana Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

In her speech, Maria noted that one of Bersih's two nominators for the annual award has also been banned from entering Malaysia.