Member of PKR Central Elections Committee arrested at Sibu airport
SIBU: A member of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Central Elections Committee (JPP) was nabbed at Sibu Airport yesterday morning to assist in the case of compromising tablets in the e-voting for the party’s Julau division elections.
Sarawak head of Commercial Crime Investigation Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said the suspect, 44, who worked as an IT officer was arrested at the airport around 9.45am, following a police report by Batu Tiga assemblyman Rodziah Ismail, who is also Selangor exco.
“Investigation is carried out under Section 5 (1) of Cyber Crime 1997 for unauthorised modification of computer contents.
“If convicted, it is punishable under Section 5 (4) of the same Act, which provides for a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or imprisonment not more than seven years or both,” he said in a statement yesterday.
In the 2.30pm incident on Nov 10 (Saturday) at Julau Sports Complex, the complainant allegedly saw the suspect checking each of the tablets.
“The complainant was informed that the e-voting system was attacked by Malware Prey. The complainant was suspicious of the worker concerned and requested for police investigation to identify the parties concerned,” he added.
According to Mustafa, police confiscated one unit each of a laptop and ipad, two iphones and five pen drives. “The suspect is now being investigated in Sibu. If the investigation can be completed, he will be released with police surety.
“However, if the investigation cannot be completed within 24 hours, (Section) 117 of Criminal Procedure Code’s remand applications will be applied,” he added.
Meanwhile, PKR JPP chairman Datuk Rashid Din said in a statement on Saturday that the JPP and IT unit had at 2pm on Saturday identified the e-voting at the Julau voting centre had failed to function normally.
During the investigation, it was found that 10 tablets for e-voting used at that time had been compromised by Prey Anti-Theft software.
Rashid said a report had been sent to obtain feedback of JPP cyber security team in Petaling Jaya.
“The information received stated that the software was used to erase the e-voting application in the tablet, steal data, and alter the password and control tablet using computer remotely,” he added.