Sierra Leone charges editors for comparing president to rat


  • World
  • Friday, 25 Oct 2013

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.

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