The MDC has been blocked from investigating circumstances that led to a break-in at the High court where thousands of ballot boxes for the disputed 2002 presidential election are being kept.

The opposition party is alleging that the ballot boxes could have been tempered with after seals were found to have been broken and that there was an additional number of ballot boxes that materialised from nowhere.

These discrepancies forced the inspection and verification of the ballot boxes to be postponed indefinitely by the High court. Where there should have been only 5 ballot boxes for Rushinga in Mashonaland Central, 12 boxes were discovered.

Shadow minister of Justice David Coltart indicated during a press conference in Harare on Wednesday that his party will file for an urgent application in the High court to prevent Mugabe's legal team from obstructing them.

Coltart, the opposition MP for Bulawayo South, said Mugabe's legal team led by Terrence Hussein prevented them from taking photographs of the boxes that had seals broken, as well as the additional boxes that emerged from nowhere.

A bemused David Coltart said it defied any logic that anyone can break into the High court undetected and temper with the ballot papers. The High court complex in central Harare is one of the most heavily guarded buildings in Zimbabwe.

Coltart said reports of a break-in at the heavily fortified building were just a smoke screen to divert attention from the real issue.

He said; 'this is an illegitimate government that rigged the presidential elections and is trying desperately to cover its tracks. They have a lot to hide and it confirms all that we have been saying all along, that they stole the elections from us.'