MONROVIA, Oct. 15 -- Two Liberian senators have publicly rejected the Chief Justice's call to abolish jury trials, arguing that the answer to allegations of compromised jurors is a stronger jury system rather than no jury at all.

Senator Snowe, a senior member of the Senate and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senator Konneh, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, issued separate statements responding to Chief Justice Gbeisay. The Chief Justice made his appeal at the opening of the October Term of Court, citing concerns that jurors have been bribed or otherwise compromised in criminal cases.

Neither senator brushed aside those concerns. Both acknowledged that bribery, intimidation and interference are rea...