14 DAY TRIAL // The website of the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) political party was defaced by hackers on Saturday, one day before the general elections took place.
The Local reports that following the hack, the index page of the sverigedemokraterna.se website displayed an ASCII image of a birthday cake with one lit candle.
Under it, a message read: "Anyway, this cake is great. It's so delicious and moist. Look at me still talking when there's Science to do." In addition, Ellen McLain's "Still Alive" song played in the background.
The Sweden Democrats (SD) describe themselves as a nationalist movement and their political views are somewhat controversial.
All polls suggested that this year the party could pass the 4 percent threshold and win seats in the Parliament for the first time. Because of this, during the campaign it was the target of various attacks.
Activists were reported disrupting SD rallies, vandalising campaign posters or attacking party members. One TV station even refused to air one of the organization's video spots.
Sweden Democrats spokesman Erik Almqvist confirmed the incident. "We have had hacker attacks over the past 24 hours. We have no idea where it is coming from," he told AFP on Saturday.
The message left behind by the attackers did not appear to be offensive, but nevertheless, Almqvist believes it might be the work of political enemies.
"I think it is a shame. Our political opponents should take the debate with us if they disagree with us," he said.
In the end, all of these attacks might have worked in the party's favor, as it probably earned it some public sympathy for being victimized.
According to preliminary election results today, the party won 5.7 percent of votes. This means it will get 20 seats in the Parliament, and given the other standings, it will most likely hold the balance of power.