Liberia, Oct. 28 -- A Liberian judge convicted a former national security aide of statutory rape and kidnapping but cleared him of gang rape. Four days later, his lawyers filed a motion arguing that the two halves of the ruling cannot both stand.

By Rodney D. Sieh

MONROVIA - When Judge Wesseh Alphonsus Wesseh Sr. delivered his verdict on Friday, October 23, he framed the case around three questions: whether the evidence supported a conviction for gang rape, for statutory rape, and for kidnapping. He answered no to the first and yes to the other two.

That split is now the battleground. On Tuesday, October 27, at 11:12 a.m., lawyers for Peter Bon Jallah, 63, a former special assistant to the director of Liberia's National Security Agency...