Ukraine's Supreme Court rejects Yanukovych's appeal
7/1/2005 11:34
Ukraine's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected presidential candidate Viktor
Yanukovych's appeal against his loss in the Dec. 26 rerun presidential
runoff. "The Court has decided to deny the complaint by presidential
candidate Viktor Yanukovych. This decision is final and can not be challenged,"
said the court decision which was read out by a justice. The three-judge
panel, saying the appeal had no basis, unanimously rejected the appeal in which
Yanukovych alleged mass fraud in the voting and asked the court to invalidate
the votes in all of Ukraine's 225 electoral districts. Yanukovych won a
disputed presidential runoff on Nov. 21, 2004, triggering weeks of protests by
rival Viktor Yushchenko's supporters. The Supreme Court later annulled the
election results and ruled for a re-vote of the runoff on Dec. 26. According
to preliminary results of the Dec. 26 race released by the Central Electoral
Commission, opposition leader Yushchenko won 51.99 percent of the votes while
44.19 percent went to Yanukovych.
Xinhua
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