Assange to run for Victorian Senate seat

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, currently holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy inLondon, will contest September poll for the Australian Senate as the lead candidate of his newly formed WikiLeaks Party. The 41-year-old hacker-turned activist's application for electoral enrolment in the state was received by Australian Electoral Commission, a daily reported. Assange’s application, an Australian national, was given by WikiLeaks supporters and his father John Shipton, who has been active in the initial organization of the party. Shipton said Assange's enrolment was "a first step" in a political campaign that would focus on "the democratic requirement of truthfulness from government". The party is not yet registered with the Australian Electoral Commission and has an initial 10-member national council comprised of close associates of Assange and pro-WikiLeaks activists. As his address for eligible enrolment, he has nominated his mother's home in Mentone, in the federal electorate of Isaacs. Assange has indicated that a WikiLeaks Party nominee would fill the vacancy in the Senate if he is elected and unable to return to Australia to take up the seat. The hacker-activist is trying to avoid extradition from Britainto Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault in August 2010.