WikiLeaks founder Assange tops Time's man of the year reader poll

Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblower website Wikileaks, has won a Time reader's poll for person of the year in 2010, the magazine announced today.

Assange polled over 382,000 votes, more than double that of the second placed Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Ergodan.

However, Assange's selection is not final. Editors of Time will take the ultimate person of the year call, and it's sure to be controversial whether they choose Assange or not. The winner will be announced on the TV show Good Morning America this Wednesday.

Assange's critics have called him a terrorist and a danger to the United States, if not to global stability in general. His supporters generally consider him a brave journalist dedicated to exposing wrongdoings and advancing the cause of political transparency and responsibility.

Critics say naming Assange the person of the year would not be a signal of support by Time's editors for Assange's actions – Stalin, the genocidal Marxist dictator of Russia, was once named person of the year simply because of his global impact. But it would signal a degree of legitimacy for Assange.

He is currently being held in a UK jail, denied bail and facing possible extradition to Sweden, where it is believed he might be handed over to US authorities. He's being held not for his dealings in stolen documents, but for violating Switzerland's politically progressive laws against sexual assault.