Zimbabwe court orders election recount delayed until presidential results disclosed News
Zimbabwe court orders election recount delayed until presidential results disclosed

[JURIST] Zimbabwe's High Court Sunday ordered the country’s Electoral Commission [official website] to refrain from recounting the results of the combined March 29 elections [JURIST report] until the presidential poll results are announced. Zimbabwean opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [party website] sought to enjoin the Electoral Commission following the official announcement that a recount in 23 out of 210 constituencies would be undertaken. The Electoral Commission, which had called for a recount under pressure [JURIST report] from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) [party website], cited “reasonable grounds” for suspecting that votes were miscounted in a way that could affect the outcome.

The MDC filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] earlier this month to compel the Electoral Commission to release the results of the presidential elections. A High Court ruling in that case is expected on Monday. Though no official tally has been released, independent observers say that MDC candidate Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile] won more votes than sitting President Robert Mugabe but likely not enough to reach the 50 percent plus one needed for outright victory. A run-off presidential election is widely expected. The March elections combined local, senate, assembly and presidential polls. BBC News has more. The Independent has additional coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Tojo and other Japanese WWII leaders executed for war crimes

On December 23, 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed for war crimes in Tokyo.

Learn more about the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.

Terry Nichols convicted for Oklahoma City bombing

On December 23, 1997, Terry Nichols was found guilty of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter for assisting Timothy McVeigh in bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He was later sentenced to life in prison. On April 19, 1995, McVeigh detonated a truck bomb that gutted the building and killed 168 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack on US. soil until the attacks of September 11, 2001. McVeigh was convicted for his role before Nichols on June 2, 1997. Learn more about the trials of Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh.