KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Former air force major turned expert witness Zaidi Ahmad may testify in a lawsuit against Putrajaya over Flight MH370 but remains bound by the Official Secrets Act (OSA), Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said today.
Zulkiefli said that the armed forces had “nothing to hide” after it was pointed out that Zaidi’s testimony could implicate the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in the aviation mystery, but was quick to note that the sacked airman may not disclose information detrimental to national security.
“We have got nothing to hide but whatever information that he has... as long as the information is not tantamount to jeopardising the defence of the country.
“He is still bound by the OSA,” the general told Malay Mail Online at a press conference here.
Zaidi, who was sacked from the military in January for exposing weaknesses with indelible ink used in Election 2013, will be called as a witness in the lawsuit filed by two sons whose father was on board Flight MH370.
According to Datuk Dr Arunan Selvaraj, who is representing the two boys in their suit against the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines (MAS), the dismissed major will testify based on his expertise as a former member of the RMAF.
He was also stationed at the Butterworth air base that made primary radar contact with the missing plane.
“I believe it shouldn’t have happened, [the RMAF] should be on alert all the time. Heads must roll,” Zaidi told reporters during a press conference at the lawyer’s office on February 13.
He said he agreed to be a witness because he felt it was his responsibility to help the families find answers to the tragedy.
MAS flight MH370, a Boeing 777 jetliner carrying 239 people, disappeared off the coast of Kota Baru, Kelantan, less than an hour after take-off at 12.41am on March 8 and has remained missing ever since.
Early investigations saw search teams concentrating on the waters off Malaysia’s east coast — in the South China Sea and between Malaysia and Vietnam — where the plane was last heard from before it lost contact with the Subang Air Traffic Control (ATC).
But local military radar at the Butterworth airbase later spotted the plane flying westwards, forcing the authorities to redirect their search efforts to the Straits of Malacca.
