By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, April 8 (Reuters) – A group claiming affiliation with
activist hacker collective Anonymous says it has hacked 2,725
emails belonging to Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party, including
those of the prime minister, in the latest challenge to the
Islamist-led government.
In a video posted on a Facebook page belonging to Anonymous
TN, a hacker wearing the trademark activist “Guy Fawkes” mask,
said the emails were released in protest against Ennahda’s
alleged failure to protect the unemployed and artists who were
attacked by Salafi Islamists during a recent protest.
The activist said the emails include phone numbers, bank
transactions and invoices paid during Tunisia’s election
campaign in October, in which Ennahda won more than 40 percent
of parliament seats, going on to lead the government.
One of the emails was from Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, a
senior Ennahda official, to the Turkish embassy, attaching
Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem’s CV.
“To the Tunisian government, we have kept a large part of
your data secret. If you do not wish to see these published on
the internet we ask you to work to the best of your ability to
avoid internet censorship and to respect human rights and the
freedom of expression in Tunisia,” the activist said.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity
of the emails or when they were accessed. The video appeared to
have been posted on Facebook on Saturday.
Government officials declined detailed comment on the
security breach but said many of the emails appeared to be old.
“We are still trying to confirm if Jebali’s hacked account
was from before he became prime minister or after,” Jebali’s
spokesman, Rida Kezdaghli, told Reuters.
Ennahda, a moderate Islamist group, has faced pressure in
recent months from secular opponents who accuse it of turning a
blind eye to conservative Salafi Islamists they fear are trying
impose their austere interpretation of Islam on the country.
Salafis have held mass protests in recent weeks demanding
the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law. At their last
protest last month, Salafis attacked the national theatre in
Tunis, tearing down posters and roughing up some actors.
Ennahda has also faced criticism from opponents who say it
has not done enough to revive the economy.
Anonymous attacked an unofficial Ennahda website last month,
as well as Facebook pages linked to the group and the site of
Tunisia’s justice ministry.
In the midst of Tunisia’s revolution in January 2011, the
“hacktivist” network launched Operation Tunisia, attacking
government websites to hit back against an internet crackdown by
veteran president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Ben Ali fled the country the same month as protests engulfed
the country.
Anonymous and fellow hacking collective LulzSec have carried
out high-profile hacking actions against institutions and
companies, including the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
(Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
