NEWS 
Online newspaper hacked, editor smeared and
subscribers threatened
Reporters Without Borders
Press release
30 May 2006 
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May 30, 2006
Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at an
attempt to smear exiled Gambian journalist Pa Nderry
Mbai, the editor of the online Freedom Newspaper
(http://www.freedomnewspaper.com), by hacking into his
website and posting a false statement of allegiance to
an associate of the president together with the names,
addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all
its subscribers, describing them as "informers." 

The false declaration of allegiance and the names and
details of the subscribers were subsequently published
in Gambia in the pro-government Daily Observer, and
were immediately followed by an announcement ordering
all these "informers" to report to the police. 

"This case of hacking is serious and revolting,"
Reporters Without Borders said. "Not only was the
reputation of a journalist besmirched but a large
number of Internet users have been put in danger. And
it is absolutely astounding that the Daily Observer
became an accomplice by publishing the list of these
so-called informers and describing them as
'subversive'." 

The press freedom organisation added: "The climate in
which Gambian journalists work is totally poisonous.
The instigators and perpetrators of this plot must be
identified and punished. We reserve the right to be
co-plaintiffs in any actions which Pa Nderry Mbai may
bring before the British or US courts." 

The person who hacked into the Freedom Newspaper site
on the night of 22 May was a British Telecom client
using the IP address of an Internet user based in the
British city of Southampton. The hacker erased all of
its content and replaced the welcome page with a
message purportedly signed by Mbai. 

The message said: "I have decided to stop producing
the Freedom Newspaper as I have pledged an allegiance
with my brother Ebou Jallow to join the APRC election
campaign." A former army captain, Jallow used to be
the spokesman of President Yahya Jammeh's military
junta, which took power in a July 1994 coup. The APRC
is the president's party, the Alliance for Patriotic
Reorientation and Construction. 

The message added: "This is a list of the people that
were supplying me with information." It was followed
by the names and details of all those who had set up
user accounts for the site. With help from the US
company that hosts the site and from Reporters Without
Borders, Mbai managed to regain control of the site
the next day and post a denial. His e-mail address was
also hacked. 

Freedom Newspaper was launched by Mbai at the start of
this year. It is very critical of President Jammeh,
especially in a column with the byline Bulfaleeh
("Doesn't Matter" in Wolof), who is portrayed as an
anonymous source within the president's office. 

Mbai used to work for the tri-weekly newspaper The
Point. He was also the Voice of America's
correspondent in Gambia. He went into self-imposed
exile in the United States after being arrested
several times by the National Intelligence Agency
(NIA). He was a good friend of The Point co-editor
Deyda Hydara, the Agence France-Presse and Reporters
Without Borders correspondent who was gunned down on
16 December 2004. 

The privately-owned Daily Observer published Mbai's
photo on its front page on 24 May under the headline,
"Freedom Newspaper informers exposed." Calling Mbai
the editor of a "subversive" newspaper, it said he had
"made a startling revelation of people passing him
information against the government, while shifting
allegiance to the ruling APRC and shutting down the
paper." The next day it published Mbai's US address
and phone number along with the names and details of
all of his subscribers under the headline "Freedom
Newspaper Informers list published." 

The same day, the Gambian police ordered all those
"who continually supplied him with information which
he used to castigate and vilify the democratically
elected government of His Excellency President Alhaji
Yahya Jammeh" to report to the nearest police station
within 24 hours or face immediate arrest. 

Owned by Amadou Samba, a businessman who supports the
president, the Daily Observer has been run since
October 2005 by Saja Taal, who is its managing
director, and Mam Sait Ceesay, its editor. Taal used
to be permanent secretary at the education ministry.
Ceesay was the president's press officer. They
replaced Modou Sanyang and Lamin Cham, who were fired
because of their coverage of the crisis between Gambia
and Senegal over customs duties. 

When contacted by Reporters Without Borders, Taal
refused to make any comment, saying the matter came
under his editor's responsibility. Reached by
telephone, Ceesay did not want to answer Reporters
Without Borders' questions. 

A few days before his site was hacked, Mbai received a
message from Jallow, the former junta spokesman. It
said: "If you think that you can do whatsoever you
want whilst away from the Gambia, then you better
think twice... because the impending reaction in the
Gambia is going to be very nasty. This is a warning
from a brother." Jallow also forwarded to Mbai a
message he had received from someone called William
Glass Junior who claimed he was capable of hacking
Mbai's site and posting a message on it "to destroy
his reputation." Jallow still has not replied to the
message Reporters Without Borders sent him on 26 May. 
 
  
 



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