RUSSIA-COURT-WEBSITE-HACKERS

Moscow, August 21 (Interfax) – Unknown hackers attacked the website of Moscow’s Khamovnichesky Court, which sentenced three performers of the all-female punk group Pussy Riot to two years in prison each last Friday for their action at the Cathedral of the Christ the Savior.

The hackers replaced the original text on the homepage by slogans calling for freedom for the Pussy Riot members, an Interfax correspondent has reported.

They also posted a music video of a homosexual nature by Bulgaria singer Azis on the court’s website and changed the titles of the website’s sections, adding sneering comments and obscenities to them.

Apart from that, one of the Pussy Riot group’s songs automatically starts playing as the webpage downloads. A slogan reading “No Logic – Just Hardcore” was placed near the Russian coat of arms in the upper right hand corner of the webpage, as well as a mobile phone number signed “Ask for Zhenya”.

Court employees were alerted about the hacking attack on the website just a short time ago, court spokesperson Darya Lyakh told Interfax.

“IT specialists have already started to repair the website. I hope that we will be able to offer more detailed information in the near future,” she said.

[RU EUROPE EEU EMRG POL CRIM PRO]

09:25:01 EET-2