Hacktivist group Anonymous claimed they took down the websites of Interpol and a British police unit as part of a campaign demanding freedom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Several Twitter accounts associated with the loose-knit hacker collective Anonymous announced that the website of International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) had been taken down. The site was unavailable as of 9:18 pm GMT on Sunday, but resumed functioning soon afterward.The hackers also claimed to have taken down the website of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), a UK police unit responsible for operations against major criminal organizations.Assange, the founder and editor of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, was ordered by Swedish authorities to be extradited from the UK, where he had been under house arrest before taking refuge at London's Ecuadorian embassy. Two women from Sweden have accused Assange of sex crimes, for which he has not yet been charged.Assange applied for political asylum in Ecuador over fears that he would be extradited from Sweden to the US, where he would be tried for espionage for his role with WikiLeaks. The Latin American country granted Assange's request earlier this month. British authorities have refused to guarantee safe passage out of London for Assange.