MONROVIA, Oct. 14 -- Liberia's most influential Christian body has called on the government, the courts and the country's political class to keep politics out of the courtroom, days after a jury convicted a former foreign minister and other ex-officials of stealing rice donated by Saudi Arabia for disaster victims.

By Rodney D Sieh

In a statement issued Tuesday titled "Justice Without Political Interference; Reconciliation Without Impunity," the Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) said it "neither determines guilt nor dictates the outcome" of the case, but insisted that justice be "governed by evidence and law, free from political interference, intimidation, and public pressure."

"No one should be prosecuted because of personal hatred or...