KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Bersih 2.0 kicked off a major social media campaign for Major Zaidi Ahmad today, hoping to pressure the authorities into dropping all charges against the air force fighter pilot who was court-martialled for reporting flaws in the indelible ink.

The polls watchdog chairman Maria Chin Abdullah pointed out that Zaidi’s controversial complaints against the failings of the indelible ink had already been admitted to by the Election Commission (EC), which should effectively render the seven charges against the air force pilot irrelevant.

“So why was action taken against Major Zaidi, who was merely speaking the truth for the sake of public good?” she said in a statement here.

The Bersih 2.0 chief said the group will send an official letter to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) today, asking that they drop all charges against the major.

For the “Support Major Zaidi” campaign, she urged all supporters to snap photographs of themselves holding up placards that say, “Gugur pertuduhan Mejar Zaidi” (drop charges against Major Zaidi) or “Hukum SPR, bukan Mejar Zaidi” (punish the EC, not Major Zaidi), and post them up on social media sites with the hashtag #sokongZaidi before the major goes to trial next month.

“Bersih 2.0 believes that many Malaysian citizens feel Major Zaidi should not be punished but should be respected for his honesty and bravery to stand up for the truth,” Maria said, calling the major a “true national hero”.

She also reminded that Article 114 (2) in the Federal Constitution states that the EC needs to get the public trust and confidence. The failure of the indelible ink, she said, had breached that trust.

Article 114(2) states that, “In appointing members of the Election Commission the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall have regard to the importance of securing an Election Commission which enjoys public confidence.”

Maria said that, despite the law, no action has been taken against EC.

“Instead, a principled and brave Malaysian citizen is called to court,” she said.

Last May after the early voting process, Zaidi lodged a police report claiming that the indelible ink used had come off easily when he washed his hands after casting his ballot.

His action led to his prosecution in a military court last Friday on four counts of allegedly violating Malaysian Armed Forces Council orders.

He was also slapped with three other charges for making a media statement without authorisation and sending two text messages that were political in nature.

Zaidi claimed trial on all seven charges. His trial is scheduled for April 8 to 10.

Introduced in Election 2013 as a concession to one of electoral watchdog Bersih’s eight demands for free and fair elections, the indelible ink meant to prevent repeating voting ironically became a symbol of alleged electoral fraud after voters flooded social media to show the ease with which it was removed.

Although it initially denied the allegations, the EC has since conceded to the “shortcomings” of the ink that had been meant to last for up to seven days.