Julian Assange is running for a seat in the Australian Senate, Wikileaks confirmed via Twitter early Wednesday. He will run as a member of the Australian Wikileaks Party.
Australia: Julian Assange has confirmed he will run in the 2013 national election for the Australian Senate #auspol— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 30, 2013
Assange's mother, Christine Assange, confirmed her son's senatorial ambitions to The Age.
"He will be awesome," she said.
Assange, who previously announced he would run for the senate in March of last year, reaffirmed his commitment to do so after an announcement that Australia will hold elections on Sept. 14.
Assange has been taking refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him on accusations of sexual misconduct. British officials have said that Assange will be arrested if he leaves the embassy.
Assange's status has caused many to question the viability of a Senate bid. However, Wikileaks claims that if Assange wins a seat, he would have a two-month window to actually set foot inside the building before the rest of the Senate could call a vote to replace him with another member of the Wikileaks Party.
Aust constitution states that only ifAssange unable to enter Senate for >2 months could Senate vote to replace with member from same party— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 30, 2013
Assange, founder of Wikileaks, fears that if he leaves the UK, he will eventually be sent to the United States. He claims the U.S. is seeking to prosecute him for his organization's involvement in the release of classified American military and diplomatic messages. The U.S. has not publicly confirmed any such charges.
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