With Major Zaidi’s sacking, Malaysia has lost a fine soldier, says Bersih

Bersih considers the dismissal of Major Zaidi Ahmad a travesty of justice as no action has been taken against the Election Commission despite many reports over the washable 'indelible' ink during the last general election. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, January 12, 2015.Malaysia has lost a fine soldier who was willing to stand up to the "farce" perpetuated on the people, Bersih 2.0 said, in the wake of the military court's decision to dismiss Major Zaidi Ahmad from the armed forces today.

The electoral watchdog said Zaidi was a conscientious man and soldier, and this was why he had reported the failure of the indelible ink during early voting in the 2013 general election.

"Major Zaidi has played his role as a citizen to highlight the biggest scandal among the irregularities that marred the 13th general election. For that, he has paid a heavy price, while Malaysia, too, has lost a fine soldier today," said Bersih in a statement.

The military court dismissed Zaidi from the armed forces after it found him guilty of breaching two standing orders by giving a media statement without the consent of the Defence Ministry, and for leaking confidential information without the consent of the Armed Forces Council.

The contents of his media statement pertained to the indelible ink used in the general election which was found to wash off easily, thus allegedly compromising the integrity of the polls.

"The sentence meted out to him – dismissal from His Majesty’s service – effectively ends Major Zaidi’s 26-year-and-one-day career with the military that could have gone further, based on his impeccable record thus far.

"Bersih 2.0 knows how committed Major Zaidi is as a citizen, a family man, and a soldier. It is precisely because of his personal, professional and societal commitment that he lodged a police report over the failure of the indelible ink during early voting in the 13th general election."

Bersih said Zaidi had explained his actions: He said he did not want the process to be similarly marred on the actual voting day. He also wanted to protect the military’s image from being tarred alongside that of the Election Commission.

"Unfortunately, despite his valiant efforts, no action has been taken on the EC till this very day, and no one from the EC has ever had to account for this sham," said Bersih.

"Nothing has ever come from the hundreds of police report lodged against the EC over this except for this particular one, which resulted in punishment for the whistleblower instead of the wrongdoer.

Bersih added that it was disappointed the court did not wait for the judicial review challenging the convening authority’s decision to proceed, despite a complaint from the defence that the fairness and integrity of the proceedings may have been compromised.

"We now look to the judicial review, the leave of application for which will be heard on February 5 at the KL High Court, for some measure of justice for Major Zaidi."

Zaidi's counsel had tried but failed to get the military panel hearing his case dissolved based on the presiding officer's alleged actions which were deemed biased and prejudicial.

In delivering the sentence today, presiding officer Colonel Saadon Hasnan said the punishment to dismiss Zaidi from the service was made after considering his excellent record of service, as well as the loyalty and nationalism he had showed throughout his service with the air force.

"This is not because of the indelible ink case. This is because of the offence he committed in going against the two standing orders issued by the Air Force's higher authority," Saadon said today.

When met after the sentencing, Zaidi said that he will continue to serve the force until he receives his discharge letter.

"Until then I will still be going to work as usual," he said, adding that he believed he was still entitled to his pension and other benefits, as the discharge was a normal dismissal.

The dismissal still needs to be confirmed and approved by the confirming officer before it is put into effect.

-TMI