He's spilled scores of top-level government secrets, much to the chagrin of lawmakers around the world. Now, Julian Assange wants to try his hand at being a politician.
WikiLeaks says its embattled founder plans to run for a seat in the Australian Senate in next year's elections, despite being under house arrest in England and facing sex crime accusations in Sweden.
"We have discovered that it is possible for Julian Assange to run for the Australian Senate while detained. Julian has decided to run," read a message posted to WikiLeaks' Twitter account Friday.
The whistle-blowing organization says it also plans to field a candidate to run against Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her home seat in Lalor (Vic). It's unclear who the second candidate is and in which electoral division Assange plans to compete.
Assange is still embroiled in a long-running legal battle to fight extradition to Sweden. His announcement comes as Britain's Supreme Court prepares to rule on his case.
In the past, the 40-year-old Australian citizen has aimed sharp criticism at Gillard for not protecting him against the potential threat of extradition to the United States, where officials hope to punish him for the release of thousands of confidential documents.
Though Australian police have concluded that Assange hasn't broken any state laws by publishing the cables -- which touch on topics ranging from military interrogation tactics to genetically modified crops -- Gillard has called the action irresponsible.
WikiLeaks has already started to corral support for Assange's Senate bid, using the Twitter hashtag #Assange4Senate to round up messages about the announcement.
Messages are trickling in from as far away as South America, where one Twitter user has declared "I wish he was Guatemalan!"
Political scientist John Wanna told The Associated Press that, despite his legal troubles, it is possible for Assange to run for Senate if he remains on the country's electoral roll.
Under Australian law, being convicted of a crime punishable by 12 months or more in prison can quash a person's presidential hopes for the duration of the sentence. Lawyers, however, have said that the law likely wouldn't apply if a candidate was convicted of a criminal offense in a foreign country.
Any adult Australian citizen is eligible to run for Parliament. However, it's rare for a candidate to find much success without the backing of a major party.
Australia's next Senate election can't be called before July 2013 and is due around August. Regulations indicate Assange can't officially register as a candidate until the election is called at least a month before the poll date.
With files from The Associated Press
