Sierra Leone charges editors for comparing president to rat

Sam 'Bode' Gibson, the new mayor of Freetown, listens as Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma announces an operation to evict traders, street-garages and food vendors from the cramped streets of the capital Freetown, in Freetown January 4, 2013. REUTERS/Tommy Trenchard

FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone has charged two newspaper editors with 26 counts of seditious libel after they published an article comparing President Ernest Bai Koroma to a rat, a senior official said on Thursday, stirring concern over press freedom.

Jonathan Leigh, managing editor of the opposition daily Independent Observer, and its editor, Bai-Bai Sesay, have been detained since their arrest last week, and were denied bail at the court hearing on Wednesday.