. Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman has raised the issue of whether the government will apply hudud equally if it is implemented.
This is after what he claimed appeared to be double standards in the law when a minister was only fined RM1,000 for skipping compulsory quarantine while ordinary citizens have faced significantly higher fines and jail terms.
"Ordinary citizens who breach quarantine are fined RM12,000 and jailed up to five months. When it involves a minister, a different 'law' is used to save friends.
"If hudud is implemented, ordinary citizens will have their hands amputated while the minister will instead have their nails (salary) cut," he said in a Twitter posting.
The implementation of hudud is a core campaign for PAS. Under the religious law, punishments can include amputation and stoning.
Yesterday, the Health Ministry confirmed that Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali had violated quarantine rules. The PAS lawmaker was fined RM1,000.
The government requires overseas returnees to quarantine for 14 days as part of the standard operating procedure (SOP) to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Khairuddin (photo) returned from Turkey on July 7 and turned up in Parliament six days later, on July 13.
Isolation at quarantine centres only came into force on July 24 but prior to that, overseas returnees were still required to self-isolate for 14 days and were not allowed to leave home.
Khairuddin's test and retest for Covid-19 have returned negative.
Overseas returnees who test negative for their first test are still required to undergo quarantine and must retake another Covid-19 test on the 13th day of their quarantine before they are released the following day.
If tested positive, they will be sent to a hospital for treatment.
Khairuddin had since apologised and offered to donate his May to August salary to the Covid-19 relief fund.
The controversy came amid complaints that ordinary citizens were treated more harshly compared to VIPs.
On Aug 14, a 72-year-old woman was fined RM8,000 and given a day in jail for violating a home quarantine order. A retest found her to be positive with Covid-19.
On Aug 13, 57-year-old Nezar Mohamed Sabur Batcha was fined RM12,000 and sentenced to five months in jail for violating a home quarantine order. He was the index case for the Sivagangga cluster. - Mkini
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