Cops gather evidence on Indonesian marked ballot papers
A team of some 10 personnel from Bukit Aman's forensic unit is in the process of gathering evidence to verify the authenticity of marked Indonesian ballot papers found in Taman Kajang Utama and Sungai Tangkas, Bangi, yesterday.
The team arrived at the shop lot unit in Taman Kajang Utama at around 6pm today, according to a police source on the ground.
A team of some 10 personnel from Bukit Aman's forensic unit is in the process of gathering evidence to verify the authenticity of marked Indonesian ballot papers found in Taman Kajang Utama and Sungai Tangkas, Bangi, yesterday.
The team arrived at the shop lot unit in Taman Kajang Utama at around 6pm today, according to a police source on the ground.
It is understood that police are checking for fingerprints and other evidence relating to the ballot papers marked mostly in favour of Indonesian president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and his running-mate Ma'aruf Amin.
The Jokowi-Ma'aruf pair is identified on the ballot papers as candidate "01" while their contenders, retired army general Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno, are identified as "02".
It was reported yesterday that 97 bags stuffed with around 200 marked ballots each were found at the site - a rented room on the second-floor of the two-storey unit - while another 158 bags were discovered at the second location which was a vacant shop lot unit.
The discovery of the some 50,000 ballot papers in total had sparked an outcry in Indonesia ahead of early voting for its citizens residing overseas this Sunday for its presidential as well as legislative polls on April 17.
Malaysiakini's check at the first location at Taman Kajang Utama found a group of about 40 people, who declared their support for Prabowo-Sandiaga, together with three representatives from the pair's national campaign team who arrived in Kuala Lumpur today.
Solihin (photo) from Prabowo's campaign team told reporters that they were assigned to personally verify claims surrounding the discovery which had gone viral on social media.
"We were, however, not allowed to enter the location which is under the jurisdiction of the Malaysian police.
"We were informed that the Malaysian police will release information on the outcome of their forensic checks soon, including on the authenticity of the ballot papers and the total number of papers marked," said Solihin who urged the gathered supporters to remain calm.
It is understood that also present were members of the Indonesian election monitoring body who arrived from Jakarta today, Indonesian election monitoring committee officers attached to the embassy in Kuala Lumpur as well as members of Jokowi-Ma'aruf national campaign team.
Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin earlier confirmed that two police reports had been lodged over the discovery and that Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun was expected to issue a formal statement on the issue.
With some 1.5 million Indonesian registered voters, Malaysia makes up the largest diaspora of the republic's overseas voters.
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