A Vienna-based advocacy group has honored a Pakistani journalist known for his critical reporting on the country's powerful military establishment.

The International Press Institute said on Wednesday it named Cyril Almeida the World Press Freedom Hero for 2018. The award honors reporters for contributions to the promotion of press freedoms in the face of great personal risk.

Almeida, who works at Pakistan's Dawn newspaper, was charged with treason after an interview last year with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in which Sharif accused the military of aiding the militants who had carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Sharif was disqualified from office in 2017 and is now imprisoned.

Almedia's case still lingers before a Pakistani court but if and when he goes on trial, he could face the death penalty.