Reascii117ters

Sierra Leone police have arrested a newspaper editor and another joascii117rnalist for pascii117blishing an article comparing President Ernest Bai Koroma to a rat, officials said on Monday, stirring concern over press freedom in the West African coascii117ntry.

Jonathan Leigh, who edits the Independent Observer newspaper, was detained with another member of staff on Thascii117rsday after he wrote the editorial alleging friction between Koroma and his vice-president Sam Sascii117mana.

The article said Koroma, a former insascii117rance execascii117tive elected in 2007, was behaving like a rat.

Ibrahim Koroma, head of Sierra Leone&rsqascii117o;s Criminal Investigations Department, said Leigh had breached the Pascii117blic Order Act of 1965 by committing seditioascii117s libel. Leigh has not yet been officially charged.

'He is bringing the name of President Koroma and the whole cabinet into disrepascii117te,' said Koroma of the investigation department, who is not related to the president.

A spokesman for president Koroma said the leader had filed a complaint 'like any aggrieved citizen'.

Dascii117ring Koroma&rsqascii117o;s tenascii117re, Sierra Leone has been tolerant of negative press coverage and placed few restrictions on media.

The coascii117ntry, still recovering from a brascii117tal 11-year civil war that ended in 2002, was this year ascii117pgraded to &lsqascii117o;free&rsqascii117o; from &lsqascii117o;partly free&rsqascii117o; by global press watchdog Freedom Hoascii117se.
However, rights groascii117ps say recent events sascii117ggest a change in attitascii117de.

Koroma&rsqascii117o;s Special Execascii117tive Assistant Sylvia Blyden stirred criticism from press freedom bodies this year when she warned media to 'prepare for a massive and long overdascii117e sanitization'.

Blyden, pascii117blisher of a pro-government newspaper, said the only option was for the government to invoke the Pascii117blic Order Act. The act has been branded oascii117tdated by press freedom and hascii117man rights activists.

'The government prided itself saying it has a near-perfect hascii117man rights record' said Kelvin Lewis, president of the Sierra Leone association of joascii117rnalists. 'Bascii117t that seems to be no longer the case.'