Pic of Major Zaidi Ahmad, from TMI

In serving as a citizen of the country, Major Zaidi Ahmad was punished, but no action has been taken against the Election Council to this day.

Election watchdog Bersih 2.0  in a statement today condemened the sentence meted out to the Major Zaidi, who was relieved of his post in the Royal Malaysian Air Force in the Military court today.

Zaidi, had undergone trial for not consulting with the army council before reporting about issues he had with the indelible ink during GE 13.

“Major Zaidi has explained his actions: 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 EC – because, to him, keeping silent would be complicit to the farce being perpetuated on the people,” said Bersih in a statement today.

The report was lodged by Zaidi, his wife and his subordinate after they found that the ink removed easily despite endorsements by the Election Council (EC) that it would take seven days wash off the ink.

“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. 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,” said Bersih.

They added that Major Zaidi had played his role as a citizen to highlight the irregularities that marred GE 13.

“For that, he has paid a heavy price, while Malaysia, too, has lost a fine soldier today.”

Bersih, led by Chair Maria Chin Abdullah, they also expressed the dissappointment in the court, for not waiting for a judicial review challenging the convening authority’s decision to proceed, despite complaints from the defense that the fairness and integrity of the proceedings may have been compromised.

Major Zaidi, has expressed that he does not want to appeal against the decision of the court. -The Rocket