KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Two air force members were ordered to delete videos of a major in which he complained of the inefficacy of the indelible ink used in Election 2013, a court-martial of the same officer heard today.
Testifying at a military court here today, Sergeant Mohd Khairul Nizam Ishak, who was attached with the physical, safety and crime prevention department at the Butterworth airbase from 2006 to November 2013, said he was instructed to delete the video of Major Zaidi Ahmad's press conference on May 1, 2013 by Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Rosli Yaakob.
He said the order came after he was instructed to transfer the video to base commander Brig Gen Datuk Mohd Shabre Hussein’s phone and to Major Sharul Naim's laptop computer the same day.
Another witness called by the prosecution team, Senior Airman Mohd Zuraidy Muchtar, also from the same department, provided similar testimony but said the instruction to delete the video came from a Major Nor Azan.
“The base commander told us that the video taken by myself and Khairul are not to be given to anybody else,” he 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 actions led to his court-martial on seven charges in February, on four counts of allegedly violating Malaysian Armed Forces Council orders and three other charges for making a media statement without authorisation and sending two text messages that were political in nature.
Five of the charges were thrown out in April, leaving two remaining against Zaidi for sending text messages that were political in nature.
The prosecution subsequently amended the five charges, initially under Section 50 (2) to Section 51 of the Armed Forces Act 1972.
Today, both witnesses said they received orders from Flight Sergeant Kamarul Asmawi Riguan to “monitor”and “spy” on Zaidi during the press conference.
Mohd Zuraidy said they both “pretended to be reporters” during the press conference when they filmed it.
He added that they were ordered by base commander Mohd Shabre to meet at his house at the airbase for a debriefing, after Zaidi’s press conference in the morning.
Meanwhile, Mohd Khairul said no internal reports were filed on May 1 as Zaidi did not commit any offence at that point in time.
The trial continues tomorrow.
