DANCER Bilqis Hijjas was today acquitted of the charge of insulting the Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor by dropping balloons down on an event they attended in August 2015.

Kuala Lumpur court magistrate Muhamad Faizal Ismail made his decision today saying the prosecution failed to prove she was engaged in insulting behaviour likely to cause a breach of peace by dropping balloons at a function attended by Najib.

The words “free media, democracy, and justice” were printed on the balloons. 

“The point has been made that a very symbolic resistance is possible and we should all take heart from this,” Bilqis told reporters today.

“I’m very pleased to be acquitted. It has been a fairly long process for something extremely minor. I’m happy that with great help from Lawyers for Liberty, this case can be concluded.

“I do hope very much that there would not be a second appeal,” she added.

Bilqis, 38, was accused of dropping the balloons from the fifth floor at the Pavilion shopping mall in Bukit Bintang at 3.15pm on August 31, 2015, while Najib and Rosmah were attending an arts event on the ground floor.

The balloon incident occurred a day after the electoral reform coalition Bersih 2.0 held a two-day rally from August 29 to 30 in Kuala Lumpur, which among others, called for Najib to resign.

Prosecutors charged that the yellow colour of the balloons was associated with the Bersih 4 rally, including its banners and the shirts of its supporters.

Prosecutors further charged that the act of dropping the balloons had caused a commotion at the opening of the function.

In making his decision today, Faizal said testimonies and CCTV footage did not show any commotion and that Bilqis was escorted out of the event without incident by mall security.

There was no proof that her actions had led to any angry reaction among attendees, as charged by prosecutors, Faizal said.

Bilqis’ first acquittal was delivered by the magistrate court on July 1.

Bilqis was ordered to enter her defense on October 3 after Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Indera Mohd Sofian Abd Razak reversed Bilqis’ first acquittal and sent the case back to a lower court.

He ruled that the magistrate had erred in acquitting Bilqis and allowed the government’s appeal against the acquittal.

“I only wanted to remind the prime minister of the principles printed on the balloons, which I think are the main principles in the country,” she told reporters earlier this month during her trial.

“These are the principles that many people want in the country and I wanted to tell him we hold strongly to them,” she had said at the Kuala Lumpur magistrates’ court.

The charge under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 carries a fine of up to RM100 upon conviction. – November 27, 2017.