KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The Malaysian Bar urged the authorities to be understanding when punishing those violating the movement control order (MCO).
Bar president Salim Bashir reminded them that Malaysians still have fundamental rights notwithstanding the MCO.
He also said imprisoning violators risked exposing prisons to Covid-19.
“Even as there is a need for the public to strictly observe and respect the MCO directive, the government must strike a balance in dealing with breaches of the MCO.
“Excessive punishments like imprisonment or imposing the maximum compound payable will result in injustices, especially when people have lost their jobs and have no income. Extenuating circumstances of an offence is a strong mitigating factor in determining a sentence,” he said in a statement today.
He said Malaysian prisons were already crowded and were vulnerable to outbreaks.
“We need to be aware that elsewhere in the world, governments and prison authorities are releasing some prisoners in order to lessen overcrowding in prisons, and reduce the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
The government reversed its decision to issue compound notices instead of arresting MCO violators after non-compliance continued to be an issue despite two previous phases of the lockdown.
