Putrajaya appeals over acquittal of voter in possession of ballot paper, says lawyer
The public prosecutor is appealing against the acquittal of voter Mohd Fadhli Khaharuddin who was charged with possessing a ballot paper during the 13th general election. Fadhli's lawyer Gena Anand Vendargon said they were served with a copy of the notice of appeal today. Vendaragon said the appeal was filed on December 11, two days after magistrate Noor Zaihan Mohamad Ali set free Fadhli after calling for his defence. Noor Zaihan said the defence, which only called Fadhli as witness, had created doubt in the prosecution’s case. "We will now wait for the magistrate to provide her grounds of judgment before the appeal is heard before a High Court judge," he said. Fadhli, who is an invigilator with the British Council, was charged on September 12, last year with possessing a ballot paper without authority and attempting to leave the voting area with it. The offence was allegedly committed under the Election Offences Act 1955. Fadhli, 25, told the court that he had intended to hand it over to the police to prove double voting. He also lodged a police report on the matter on the same day. Fadhli said he managed to obtain a second set of ballot papers after washing off the supposedly indelible ink from his finger. He voted in the Kuantan parliamentary seat and the Tanjung Lumpur state seat. The Election Commission (EC) introduced the indelible ink for the first time in 2013. After voting at 10.15am at SK Sungai Isap, Kuantan, he returned at 1.15pm and was allowed to vote again when EC officers saw no ink on the finger nor realised his name should have been struck off the registry. Fadhli said when he got the ballot, he immediately showed it to a policeman on duty at the polling station and requested to make a report when he got the ballot paper. Instead, he was charged with committing an offence a year later. Fadhli’s lead counsel Datuk Bastian Vendargon had submitted that his client had not intended to commit the offence but merely wanted to show that there was weakness in the election system and that there was potential of double voting. – December 22, 2015.
