Why go after RMAF pilot and let big sharks get away, asks DAP

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang (pic) today questioned Putrajaya's move to charge air force pilot Major Zaidi Ahmad for complaining about GE13's indelible ink when it let "big sharks of corruption, who steal hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of properties and wealth, act with impunity as they enjoyed immunity".

He said the government should be ashamed for behaving in "a mean and petty manner" against the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) pilot who had lodged a police report against the indelible ink used in the May 5 general election.

"Why is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration so perverse that they prefer to charge Zaidi using a 40-year-old military law?" the Gelang Patah MP said in a statement today.

"Zaidi did what every Malaysian is expected to do, he spoke the truth about the indelible ink which was used in the last general election as it was quickly washable and removable."

"The use of the Armed Forces Act 1972 on Zaidi shows that military leaders have no standing and took their cue from political leaders," Lim said.

He also urged Najib and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to intervene and drop all charges against Zaidi, who faces two years in jail if found guilty.

"If Zaidi is sent to prison, both Najib and Hishammuddin should be ashamed and embarrassed in the eyes of the world. But they appear to be numb and insensitive," he said.

Lim said when Zaidi lodged a police report over the indelible ink fiasco, he was acting in his capacity as a Malaysian voter and citizen.

"He was not lodging a police report in his capacity as a RMAF pilot," Lim pointed out.

"Which has the higher calling, loyalty to the Federal Constitution or to the bureaucratic rules and regulations of the military services?"

He added that if Putrajaya was not prepared to drop all charges against Zaidi, then he would raise the issue when Parliament reconvenes on March 10.

Zaidi lodged a police report after the indelible ink on his finger washed off only hours after voting in the 13th general election in May last year.

He is facing a military court on multiple charges of violating Malaysian Armed Forces Council orders and making statements to the media without the Defence Ministry's authorisation.

He also is in trouble for sending two text messages which were deemed political in nature.

He was charged on February 7 before the military court in Kuala Lumpur. The case will be heard in April.

In addition, the pilot's wings have been clipped and he has been reassigned to a desk job.

Zaidi has received support from PKR-linked NGO Pahlawan, a grouping of former servicemen who said the pilot was being made an example by Putrajaya.

"It is a tactic to frighten all army personnel from exercising their rights as citizens," Pahlawan said.

Pahlawan said it found it illogical that the army had used a 40-year-old military law to fault the pilot for his police report.

Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) in its Facebook posting recently had also come out in support of Zaidi, saying he was being victimised by the military and the government.

Bersih 2.0 questioned why Zaidi, who is the whistleblower in this case, is being court–martialled while the EC is let off for dereliction of duty.

"What the government fails to realise is that Maj Zaidi is already an example – one that we should emulate rather than avoid – of honesty, integrity, and bravery."