Computer hackers on Tuesday attacked the website of Moscow’s Khamovnichesky Court, where three members of the anti-Putin punk group Pussy Riot were jailed last week.
The hackers posted a message calling for the release of the three members of Russian punk band who were jailed for two years each on Friday, over a February protest in Moscow’s largest cathedral. The unknown attackers also posted a music video clip with homosexual content by Bulgarian pop-folk singer Azis.
Visitors to the site on Tuesday morning were greeted with Pussy Riot’s new single, Putin Ignites the Fires of Revolution, which has been posted on the YouTube website. Hackers also renamed some of the sections on the site – including the Press Service and Legal Community – with epitaphs loaded with expletives.
By 11 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday, computer experts were still working to fix the problems, the court press service told RIA Novosti.
The Khamovnichesky Court has heard a series of high-profile court cases in recent years, including that of the Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was sentenced to a second term in jail term there in December, 2010. Earlier this month, Pussy Riot’s trial was delayed for a few hours following a bomb threat from an unknown source.