MADRID (Sputnik) – The website of the Spanish Constitutional Court has been attacked by a hacktivist group dubbed Anonymous, Spain's Homeland Security Department said Saturday.
Anonymous announced its Operation Free Catalonia on September 24 ahead of the Catalan referendum as a protest against Madrid's attempts to prevent the plebiscite.
Greeting world, we are Anonymous #opCatalunya #FreeCatalonia pic.twitter.com/uY6H9lrcPh
— Anonymous TV (@AnonTVofficial) 1 октября 2017 г.
Earlier, the department warned that on October 21 the group would launch a massive cyber-attack campaign under the slogans #OpCatalunya and #FreeCatalunya. It also noted that within the last few weeks state web-pages had witnessed attacks under the same slogans.
READ MORE: Catalonia Referendum: Will ‘Europe of Regions’ Become Viable?
The central Spanish authorities have worked to prevent the declaration of Catalonia's independence as over 90 percent of more than 2 million voters, who participated in the region’s referendum supported the region's secession from Spain. Madrid has given Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont time until October 16 to clarify Barcelona's position on the independence, however, he failed to meet the deadline to do so.
After that, the Spanish cabinet has convened an emergency meeting to begin the procedure of invoking Article 155 of the country's constitution, enabling Madrid to seize powers from the region. The cyber-attacks are believed to be connected with the meeting.
