Assange’s WikiLeaks Party opens for membership in Australia

People holds up placards supporting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as thousands of Australians rally around the country in protest, in Melbourne (AFP Photo / William West)

Julian Assange’s new political party is open for membership, WikiLeaks announced on Twitter on Saturday. The party must enlist 500 dues-paying members to officially register with the Australian Electoral Commission.

The WikiLeaks party was created as part of Assange’s bid to become an Australian senator in
September 2013 elections in Victoria State. At the moment the party
has an initial 10-member national council, consisting of supporters
and close associates of Assange and pro-WikiLeaks activists, but it
also has to attract 500 fee-paying members required to be
registered.

The Twitter post calling on Australians to join the WikiLeaks
party suggests its newly-created website is still being tested,
although an online membership form is already
available. 

Joining the WikiLeaks party founding crowd takes filling out at
least 8 fields of personal information, mandatory for membership
application, and also paying a $20 fee.

The website also has the constitution of the WikiLeaks Party
available online. Among its priorities it cites “the protection
of human rights and freedoms; transparency of governmental and
corporate action, policy and information; recognition of the need
for equality between generations; and support of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander self-determination
”.

WikiLeaks announced its founder and leader Julian Assange was
planning to run for a seat in the Australian Senate a year ago. He
submitted his application to the Australian Electoral Commission
and had his political party incorporated in Australia in
February.

Screenshot from wikileaksparty.org.au

The whistleblower is hoping that if he is elected, the US and
Britain might stop their persecution of him for fear of diplomatic row. 

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London
since June 2012, after claiming asylum in a bid to avoid
extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual
assault allegations.

The founder of the whistleblowing website believes once in
Sweden, he could then be extradited to the United States, where
according to his lawyers he is likely to face trial and possibly
even death penalty for the release of thousands of classified US
diplomatic cables.

If elected Australian Senator, Assange might still not be able
to be physically present at the Australian senate as he might still
be trapped in London’s Ecuadorean embassy. British authorities have
vowed to detain him if he steps foot outside of the embassy in
light of the European Arrest Warrant issued against him.

Thus, Wikileaks founder does not rule out the possibility, that
if he wins election and is unable to return to Australia, a
WikiLeaks Party nominee could fill his seat in the Senate.

Source Article from http://rt.com/news/wikileaks-party-membership-australia-086/

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