The whistle-blowing website said it appeared that the 40-year-old’s current legal situation did not rule him out of running for Australia’s upper house.

“We have discovered that it is possible for Julian Assange to run for the Australian Senate while detained,” WikiLeaks said on Twitter. “Julian has decided to run.”

WikiLeaks said it will also field a candidate to run directly against Prime Minister Julia Gillard in her lower house electorate of Lalor, in Victoria, in the elections, which are due in 2013.