A 75-year-old woman arrested for single-handedly
cutting off the Internet in Georgia and Armenia on Friday tearfully
insisted she was innocent and said she had never heard of the
web.
In a case that has attracted worldwide interest, pensioner
Hayastan Shakarian is accused of forcing thousands of people in
both countries offline for hours after hacking into a fibre-optic
cable while digging for scrap metal.
But Shakarian, a Georgian of Armenian origin, told AFP that she
was just a "poor old woman" who was not capable of committing such
a crime.
"I did not cut this cable. Physically, I could not do it," she
said, repeatedly bursting into tears as she spoke.
Shakarian, who lives in the poverty-stricken Georgian village of
Armazi, around 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the capital Tbilisi,
said that she had only been collecting firewood.
"I have no idea what the Internet is," she added.
The pensioner has been charged with damaging property and could
face up to three years in prison if convicted.
"My mother is innocent. She is crying all the time. She is so
scared," said her son, Sergo Shakarian.
The Georgian interior ministry said that despite her claims to
innocence, Shakarian had already confessed to cutting the
fibre-optic cable.
The incident on March 28 provoked lengthy debates on global
Internet discussion forums after it was widely publicised this
week.
Around 800 people posted comments about the case on the Engadget
technology website, some arguing that the authorities should show
leniency because of Shakarian's age and her impoverished
situation.
The company that owns the fibre-optic cable, Georgian Railway
Telecom, said that the damage was serious, causing 90 percent of
private and corporate Internet users in neighbouring Armenia to
lose access for nearly 12 hours while also hitting Georgian
Internet service providers.
But although Georgian Railway Telecom insists that the
600-kilometre (380-mile) cable has "robust protection", this was
not the first time that it has been damaged.
Many Georgians' Internet connections were also briefly cut off
in 2009 by another scavenger who hacked into the cable while
hunting for scrap metal to sell.