PM, wife won't be called to testify in yellow balloon woman case

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor will not be called as witnesses in the trial of Bilqis Hijjas who dropped yellow balloons during an event in a mall attended by the two, the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court heard today.

"For the time being, we are not going to call our prime minister and his wife (as witnesses)," deputy public prosecutor Nur Akmal Farhan Aziz told the court.

He was replying to lawyer Michelle Yesudas who is representing Bilqis.

Yesudas asked if Najib and his wife would be called to the witness stand after the prosecution's first witness mentioned them "more than five times" in her testimony.

Bilqis had dropped the yellow balloons with words like 'democracy', 'justice' and 'free media' at the mall onto a National Day event attended by Najib and his wife last year.

Bilqis is charged under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 for “insulting behaviour” with intent to provoke breach of peace, which carries a maximum fine of RM100.

The balloons were dropped a day after the Bersih 4 rally, which saw hundreds of thousands of people, clad in official Bersih yellow, gathering in front of Dataran Merdeka to demand for Najib's resignation.

The first witness called was auxiliary police officer Irmalinda Zaimardy, who works at the popular Kuala Lumpur mall where the incident took place.

Irmalinda, who was working on that day, said she was standing next to the escalator at level two when she saw three yellow balloons floating down from an upper floor.

'Balloons dropped in an insulting way'

Instructed to go to level five where the balloons were dropped, she said she found Bilqis holding the yellow balloons and detained her.

She later went to collect the balloons, which had burst and were lying in shreds (serpihan).

After establishing the chronology and details of the event several times, Nur Akmal asked Irmalinda why she had detained Bilqis.

"Because it (dropping of the balloons) was done in an insulting way, with the intention of sparking anger which could have disturbed the peace," she said.

However, when asked what was the relation between the Bersih 4 rally and the colour yellow of the balloons, she was unable to answer.

Nur Akmal then asked to stop the proceedings of the trial after Irmalinda said she was unable to continue.

The prosecution has another three to four more witnesses to call. Magistrate Muhammad Faizal Ismail then postponed the trial to April 18 to 20.

"She (the witness) looked unwell and uneasy so I didn't object to it," Yesudas told reporters later.

She also said she was glad that the case has finally gone to trial.

Shocked that throwing balloons with words like 'democracy' and 'justice' on them can be prosecuted in the country, Yesudas said she is certain "our democratic space is shrinking".

"We must change our attitudes towards the criminal justice system and have our institutions more concerned with actual crime fighting instead of chasing women with yellow balloons," she said.

Bilqis told reporters that she is concerned over the "endless delays" although she is not worried about her case.

"Now the case is postponed for another two months and this is going to go on forever.

"And all for the sake of a RM100 fine? Is that really reasonable?" she asked. --Mkini