In his daily press conference regarding the Movement Control Order (MCO) on 14 April 2020, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob addressed the issue of non-compliance among Malaysians.
The minister announced that, as of 14 April 2020, the number of people arrested for violating the MCO has surged past the 9,000 mark. In comparison, Malaysia currently only has 2,464 active cases of COVID-19 in the country.
As a result, Ismail Sabri, who is also the Minister of Defense, announced that police will no longer issue RM1000 compounds to offenders. Instead, those who fail to stay at home and are caught violating the MCO will be immediately remanded and charged in court.
Under the current laws being invoked, first-time offenders could be punished with a jail-term not exceeding two years while repeat offenders could be met with a jail sentence of not more than five years.
These stricter regulations will come into effect tomorrow (15 April 2020) as Malaysia enters the third phase of the MCO. Hopefully these new measures will deter Malaysians from needlessly venturing outside and help to maximise the effectiveness of the MCO in combating the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
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