[JURIST] The Ugandan Supreme Court [official website] has ruled by a vote of 4-3 against a challenge [JURIST report] to the February 23 presidential elections which allowed President Yoweri Museveni [BBC profile] to remain in power. The challenge and request for a re-election [JURIST report] was brought by opposition candidate Kizza Besigye [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) [party website]. The court acknowledged that the vote count involved minor irregularities, but said that the FDC did not meet its burden in proving that these issues substantially affected the final vote in a manner that supported their allegations of fraud and malfeasance [JURIST report].

Earlier this week, Besigye pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to charges that he was part of a plot to overthrow the government of Uganda [JURIST news archive] between 2001 and 2004. AFP has more. From Uganda, the Daily Monitor has local coverage.

4/7/06 10:26 AM ET – The Daily Monitor has now posted the court's ruling along with a comment from the paper's editors on the implications of the Besigye judgment.