* Journalists arrested for leaking cocoa document
* Rights watchdogs doubt "theft" charge
ABIDJAN, July 15 (Reuters) - Three Ivorian journalists have been arrested and will be charged with stealing secret documents after the conclusion of a judicial inquiry on corruption in the cocoa sector, the public prosecutor said on Thursday.
Police seized the editor, managing editor and director of publications at Le Nouveau Courier daily on Tuesday after the paper published the findings of a report into graft allegations against former officials from the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC).
At least 20 BCC officials were detained in 2008 in a graft crackdown in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower. Most remain in jail and have yet to face trial.
Public prosecutor Raymond Tchimou told Reuters the three were being held for questioning up to the legal maximum of 48 hours and would be charged without delay on Friday.
Local media said police asked the journalists for the source of the document leak but they had refused.
"We accuse them of stealing judicial documents. They were will be referred to the court tomorrow," he said. "They will be imprisoned until we gather all the elements of the case together."
There is no criminal penalty in Ivory Coast for publishing anything, but theft of public documents can carry a jail sentence.
"They can pursue them for theft but they will have to demonstrate that this is how they acquired the document in a court of law," said Herve Gouamene, head of the local Action for the Protection of Human Rights.
Reporters Without Borders, the press freedom watchdog, said it "deplores this serious threat to press freedom and calls for the immediate release of the three journalists".
"The theft charge does not stand up. It should be borne in mind that protection of the confidentiality of sources is a fundamental principle of journalism," it said in a statement.
(Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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