Congo high court dismisses presidential election challenge News
Congo high court dismisses presidential election challenge

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo [JURIST news archive] in Kinshasa Monday rejected a legal challenge [JURIST report] by Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba [campaign website, in French; Wikipedia profile] to the official results of last month's presidential run-off election [JURIST report]. The court declared the challenge unfounded and upheld the victory of incumbent Joseph Kabila [BBC profile; PPRD party website, in French], who was declared the winner by a margin of 16 points.

Voting fraud has been an issue [JURIST report] since the first round of the election in July. Last week, Bemba's supporters [MLC party website] set the Supreme Court on fire [JURIST report], forcing the court to relocate [JURIST report] some of its offices. More than 30 people have died [NYT report] in election-related violence. AFP has more.