Deputy minister and Perak exco to be charged for breaching MCO

CORONAIRUS | Deputy Health Minister Noor Azmi Ghazali and Perak exco member Razman Zakaria will be charged in court tomorrow with breaching the movement control order (MCO).

Perak police chief Razarudin Husain was quoted by the New Straits Times confirming the move.

"Go to the Gerik magistrate court tomorrow morning," he was quoted as saying.

The duo is expected to be charged there at 9am.

When contacted, Razman told Malaysiakini that he had been informed of the matter by police.

"Yes I have been informed," he said.

However, Razman declined to elaborate on the matter.

"Nevermind, wait for tomorrow," he added.

Noor Azmi did not respond to requests for comment at the time of writing.

Apologies from Noor Azmi and Razman

The deputy health minister had posted a series of photographs on his Facebook of him and his entourage visiting a religious school in Lenggong on April 17.

In the pictures, he is depicted handing out goods to several people. About 20 people were also shown eating a meal together without social distancing measures, including the deputy minister and Perak exco.

However, the posts have since been deleted on Facebook, but the screenshots of the posting continued to make the rounds elsewhere.

Both Noor Azmi and Razman have since apologised for breaching the MCO.

“I apologise for my mistake. This posting is not my attempt to be exempted from legal action but to explain the real situation,” Razman had said in a public apology on Facebook on April 19.

Noor Azmi, in a separate statement, also apologised a day after that.

"I apologise and admit my mistake over my presence at a tahfiz school in Lenggong, Perak, on April 17 during an official visit to the Klinik Kesihatan Lenggong to monitor the situation of frontliners handling the Covid-19 outbreak," he had said.

Under Section 7(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease (Measures Within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, a person violating the MCO can be fined up to RM1,000 or imprisoned up to six months or both.

The MCO began on March 18 and is expected to end on May 12, after three extensions.

Under the MCO, All non-essential businesses and services were ordered closed and people cannot leave their homes except for approved reasons, such as buying groceries within a 10km radius.

The move, aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, has brought a large part of the country's economy to a standstill.

As of noon today, the coronavirus had infected 5,820 people and claimed 99 lives in the country.

However, 3,957 people have recovered and 1,764 are still in treatment.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than three million people and claimed 207,265 lives. - Mkini