14 DAY TRIAL // The Portuguese branch of the Anonymous hacker collective has started cyber-attacks against different websites associated with the Angolan government.
The wave of attacks was ignited by the recent sentencing of 17 activists that have publicly demanded the country ruler, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, to step down.
Dos Santos has been ruling Angola since 1979, and has announced he'll be stepping down in 2018, but very few people believe he's going to go through with his promise.
Activists received sentences ranging from two to eight years in prison
The activists embarked on a peaceful campaign of protests last year. Authorities arrested the group in June 2015, when they were discussing a book about non-violent protests at their book club.
In a trial that many have called a farce and a political circus, the 17 activists, among which was also local rapper Luaty Beirao, received sentences between two and eight years.
A man that shouted "travesty of justice" in the courtroom also received an eight-month prison term himself, the BBC reports.
Anonymous Portugal starts #OpLusofonia
On March 29, as soon as news about the prison sentences broke, Anonymous Portugal posted details about targets it plans to attack as revenge against the Angolan government. The list included 28 Angolan government websites, some of which experienced downtime during the following day while others were defaced with messages supporting the campaign.
The group provided an update two days later, expanding the list of targets to 83 websites. Additionally, the hackers also dumped what seems to be the databases of some sites that have nothing to do with any government agencies.
Angola is a Portuguese-speaking country, a former Portugal colony that gained its independence in 1974 after a 13-year-long war, so this might explain why Anonymous Portugal offered to step in for the Angolan activists.
