(Image source from: Assange form his political party called WikiLeaks})

Australian activist/journalist Julian Assange formally launched his political party today, with the same name. He, furthermore, announced his own candidacy  for the Australian Senate in national elections to be held in September.

The Australian computer hacker, notorious for WikiLeaks’ 2010  where he leaked a massive trove of American diplomatic cables, rose to eminence as a missionary and a critic of United States foreign policy under then-President George W. Bush.

Julian Assange  affirmed that he is ready to run election campaign from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been granted asylum. The journalist is wanted by the government of Sweden for sexual assault allegations.

“It’s not unlike running the WikiLeaks organization,” he said.

“We have people on every continent. We have to deal with over a dozen legal cases at once. However, it’s nice to be politically engaged in my home country,” he added.

His party also announced the name of six other candidates who will run the election to be held on September 14.

“My plans are to essentially parachute in a crack troop of investigative journalists into the Senate and to do what we have done with WikiLeaks, in holding banks and government and intelligence agencies to account,” Mr. Assange said.

AW: Suchorita Dutta