Abandoned Human Rights Website "Paleskaya Viasna" Hacked
On the morning of August 18, Telegram channels associated with силовые структуры (security forces) in Belarus announced the hacking of the "Paleskaya Viasna" website and the alleged gaining of access to an email inbox linked to the administrative part of the site. The Human Rights Center "Viasna" confirmed that the regional "Paleskaya Viasna" website was indeed hacked and provided an explanation of the situation.
"Viasna" noted that the "Paleskaya Viasna" website had not been updated for almost two years and was effectively used only as an archive of old materials.
Human rights defenders emphasized that this website and the mentioned email inbox were not connected to the organization's central resource — spring96.org, nor to other information platforms of "Viasna".
The central website, the organization's official email inboxes, and messages sent through them are, according to "Viasna"'s statement, secure.
The human rights center is currently investigating what happened with the email inbox claimed by the security forces, and whether access to it was indeed gained.
"Viasna" also refuted information about the alleged leak of the organization's financial data. According to human rights defenders, these statements do not correspond to reality and are an attempt by the security forces to discredit the organization's activities.
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" stated that it would continue to report on the development of the situation.