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Opposition Writer Akunin's Blog Hacked

Boris Akunin speaking during a rally of tens of thousands of protesters on Bolotnaya Ploshchad on Dec. 10. Igor Tabakov

Attackers have hacked into the LiveJournal blog and Gmail account of prominent author Boris Akunin in apparent punishment for his participation in opposition rallies.

All the entries in Akunin's blog were erased and a new one was added that called the author a "revolutionary" and turned his real name — Grigory Chkhartishvili — into an obscenity.

The blog was accessed by gaining Akunin's password by hacking his Gmail account, RBC Daily reported. Both accounts were apparently hacked Sunday night.

"When there is nothing to discuss on the merits, the only reaction is, 'Be quiet, you bald man" or "You're just a Georgian," Akunin told RIA-Novosti.

LiveJournal promised to restore Akunin's blog with all its original entries.

Akunin flew to Moscow from France to address a rally of tens of thousands of people gathered on Bolotnaya Ploshchad on Dec. 10 to denounce recent State Duma elections as fraudulent. He is also helping organize a follow-up rally scheduled for Dec. 24.

On his blog, Akunin recently outlined the speech he gave at the Dec. 10 rally and posted a television report about the rally that never was broadcast.

A prominent hacker who goes by the name Hell published what he purported to be excerpts of Akunin's hacked Google and LiveJournal account on his web site.

In January, Hell has claimed responsibility for hacking the LiveJournal accounts of Valeria Novodvorskaya, a former Soviet dissident and a member of the New Times editorial board, and businessman Konstantin Borovoi. Hell also posted excerpts from their accounts on his web site.

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