Julian Assange Running For Senate In Australia

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Julian Assange may still be facing sex crime allegations in Sweden but that isn’t stopping the Wikileaks founder from running for office in Australia.

Wikileaks announced on Twitter today that Assange will be running for the Australian senate. Wikileaks writes:

“We have discovered that it is possible for Julian Assange to run for the Australian Senate while detained. Julian has decided to run. (The) state Julian will run for will be announced at the appropriate time.”

The Associated Press reports that Assange is currently fighting to be extradited to Sweden. Assange has spoken out against Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard for not standing up against the US government as it tries to bring Assange to America so that he can prosecuted for leaking classified U.S. documents.

Assange is allowed to run for senate as long as he is not put put in jail for violating Australian law.

The Australian constitution reads:

“Any candidate who is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer… shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.”

In 2010 the Australian government investigated Assange and Wikileaks but found that the group did not break any Australian laws by publishing the U.S. documents.

The Jakarta Globe reports that WikiLeaks will also field a candidate who will run directly against Prime Minister Julia Gillard during the 2013 election.