Story highlights
Julian Assange is under house arrest in England
But he can run for the Australian Senate, WikiLeaks claims on its Twitter page
Assange is fighting extradition to Sweden, where he's a suspect in a sex crimes inquiry
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has decided to run for a seat in the Australian Senate, WikiLeaks announced on its Twitter page Saturday.
The group, which facilitates the anonymous leaking of secret information, said it discovered it is possible for Assange to run while living in England under house arrest. Assange was born in Australia and grew up there.
Since the summer of 2010, he has become a household name and a pop culture fixture. He’s an internationally controversial figure who has cast himself as a champion of free speech by distributing classified documents.
Assange is also a suspect in a Swedish sex crimes investigation. He’s been fighting extradition before Britain’s Supreme Court, which is weighing whether he should be sent to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault lodged by two women in the country.
Assange is living in England under house arrest related to the case and has so far failed to convince magistrates and the court of appeal that a warrant for his arrest is invalid.
Lawyers for Assange have vowed to take the fight all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. He has repeatedly said he’s innocent.
CNN’s Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.