![Zimbabwe opposition leader petitions high court to set aside 2002 election results](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] Lawyers for Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile], opposition leader in Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive], on Thursday petitioned that country's high court to hear Tsvangirai's legal challenge to President Mugabe's 2002 election victory. As leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [official website] Tsvangirai ran against Mugabe for the presidency in 2002 and lost. Thursday's appeal to Zimbabwe's high court followed a lower court's dismissal of Tsvangirai's case. Tsvangirai noted that because he believes the entire judiciary is biased in favor of the current government led by Robert Mugabe [BBC profile], it is unlikely the high court will set aside the lower court's decision. This year's parliamentary elections also led to victory for Mugabe's Zanu PF [official website] party, despite allegations of widespread voter fraud [JURIST report]. Tsvangirai also rejected [JURIST report] that victory and challenged the election in court [JURIST report]. ZWNews has local coverage; SABC News has more.