Court hears challenge to Mugabe's re-election

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Lawyers for Zimbabwe's opposition party submitted 200 pages of allegations of vote rigging and intimidation Monday as the High Court began hearing a long-delayed challenge to President Robert Mugabe's re-election last year.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was present for Monday's session, alleges ruling party supporters obstructed voters in opposition strongholds and stuffed ballot boxes with "ghost" votes.

He also says the commission that oversaw the election was improperly constituted and packed with military personnel.

"The fairness and genuineness of the elections were stifled at birth," said Jeremy Gauntlett, a South African lawyer brought in to argue Tsvangirai's case.

Gauntlett accused government lawyers of "fancy footwork" to delay the case for more than 18 months.

He also criticized their attempts to move the case to the Supreme Court, where a former government minister presides.

"One of the reasons why this case is so important is because it amounts to a challenge to the authority of the courts," Gauntlett said in opening remarks. "It is a startling contention for the president of the country to argue that these courts may not come to the aid of ordinary citizens, that that is reserved to the Supreme Court."

The government said Mugabe won 56 percent of the March 2002 vote, compared with 42 percent for Tsvangirai.

Foreign observers and human rights groups have called the elections deeply flawed. The Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies suspended Zimbabwe for a year, citing political violence, repressive laws and unfair voting conditions that swayed the poll in Mugabe's favor.

Mugabe, 79, led the nation to independence from Britain in 1980 and faced little dissent until recent years, when the nation's economy collapsed and political violence erupted.

The often violent confiscation of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks has crippled the agriculture-based economy, with critical shortages of food, fuel and other supplies.

Mugabe's government has also stepped up a crackdown on the opposition and independent media. Tsvangirai has been charged with treason for allegedly plotting to kill Mugabe.

The hearing in Tsvangirai's election challenge is expected to take at least three days, but a judgment could take months.

The High Court has the authority to order a new poll, but any decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court.