On Thursday, Rafizi Ramli had been asked to enter his defence on charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for allegedly exposing classified documents related to Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), the government pension fund for military personnel.

Now faced with the possibility of being put away in jail if found guilty, Rafizi, who has been Pandan MP since 2013, said he was ready for that eventuality. A person found guilty under the OSA will have to serve a mandatory jail sentence.

However, most of the voters who spoke to Malaysiakini yesterday in Pandan – a parliamentary constituency in Selangor located east of Kuala Lumpur - expressed sadness over his potential jail sentence.

Razlina Mohd Nor, who has lived in the Pandan area for 11 years, said that she hoped Rafizi could still remain as their representative as she felt he had done a lot of good for the people.

“I pray that he will be free from these charges. I feel that what he’s doing is right, because we as the rakyat have a right to know,” she told Malaysiakini at the Pandan Capital shopping mall.

She also said there has been a significant increase in the quality of life in Pandan over the past few years, such as improvements to schools and hospitals.

Her sentiment was echoed by Anna Devi (photo), who has lived in the constituency since 1998.

Like Razlina, she said she also noticed plenty of improvement in Pandan recently, such as public transportation and roads.

Though she was not initially aware of Rafizi’s name, she said she voted for PKR in the previous general election.

After Rafizi’s situation was explained to her, Anna said that as there are many corrupt people in government, it was necessary for him to expose them.

“We must tell the people. In my case, if someone did something wrong, I will call the police.

“We have to fight for our rights. Of course, I am sad (about what is happening to Rafizi). We have to give him moral support,” she said.

Both Liew Yeok Gang and Madam Wong said they were troubled by the possibility of Rafizi going to jail.

“He is a king of exposes,” said Liew, referring to Rafizi, who is the co-founder of the whistleblower organisation National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW).

Meanwhile, a woman who only wanted to be known as Connie said that Rafizi going to jail would be a loss to the people of Pandan.

“It’s very hard to find a good one (representative),” she said.

SW Kumar (right in photo), who runs a convenience store in Pandan, claimed that Rafizi used to frequent his humble store.

He was very much aware of what has been happening with Rafizi’s case, he said, and he thinks Rafizi is a “very capable man” and has “done good”.

“I don’t know why they (the government) has put him in the soup. I am against this thing that happened to him,” he said.

When asked if Rafizi’s expose was worth going to jail for, Kumar’s friend Arul chipped in, “(Yes), it was worth it.”

Alex Chin, 45, said that if it wasn’t for Rafizi, there would be many things which the rakyat do not know.

Rafizi had also previously revealed alleged misappropriation of funds from the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

A loss for the opposition too

Chin also questioned why the LTAT documents were classified as secret in the first place.

“It’s not like it’s about weapons or terrorists or something. Actually this thing about funds should be open (to the public).

“If the government cannot be open, there will be more doubt from the people and more questions from us,” he said.

Rafizi going to jail would be a loss, not only for the people of Pandan but also a loss for the opposition, he added.

Meanwhile, Akma Jamali (photo), who has lived in Pandan for about 30 years, said that ever since Rafizi became Pandan MP, there has been many developments in the area.

However, she said that she did not support the parliamentarian in exposing the LTAT-related documents.

“I don’t agree (with what he did) because whatever it is, you cannot reveal (state) secrets. It was unprofessional of him to do so,” she said.

She added that though he may have his reasons for doing so, she was disappointed by his actions.

“I hope that others do not follow in his footsteps,” she said.

Rafizi is currently facing two charges under the OSA for disclosing the classified documents that purportedly link LTAT to the 1MDB scandal at the Parliament lobby on March 24.

The charge under Section 8(1)(c)(iii) of the Act provides a jail term of up to seven years, if found guilty. He was also charged under Section 8(1)(c)(iv) of the same Act which provides a maximum seven-year jail term, upon conviction.

On Thursday, Sessions Court judge Zulkarnain Hassan had said in the court’s decision that the prosecution had established a prima facie case.

Among the reasons cited were that Rafizi was proven to have possessed as well as exposed page 98 of the Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB, which has been classified under the OSA.

Rafizi won the Pandan parliamentary seat at the 13th general election in 2013 against MCA’s Lim Chin Yee with a majority of 26,729 votes.