.JPG "Single mother Lisa Christina speaks to reporters during a press conference at Pusat Khidmat Rakyat Parliament Batu, Kuala Lumpur May 7, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 ― The single mother who was almost imprisoned for 30 days for violating the movement control order (MCO), has come forward today to narrate her ordeal that only ended after the High Court reviewed her sentencing.
Speaking to the press today, B. Lisa Christina said she is still traumatised from the incident, and continues to question why politicians and their kin can get away with lighter sentence while others like her are made to face the full brunt of the law.
She lamented that she never thought a kind gesture in passing some drinks to her friends across the shop beneath her apartment, would be a life-changing roller coaster ride, which saw her imprisoned for eight days and fined RM1,000.
During the press conference hosted by social activist S. Dayalan and Batu MP P. Prabakaran at the latter's service centre in Sentul, Lisa claimed that she was only told that she would be given a warning by the police who detained her on that day.
However, things spiralled down from then on.
Lisa said that she was even made to sit on the floor together with several men, who were also rounded up by the police before being taken to the police station.
“He said to me that he was just going to give me a warning, when I begged him saying I just came over to buy drinks and that I am just going to go home, because my son is at home,” she said, referring to the police officer who handled her case.
“So he said; No, I am just going to give you a warning, so you just follow me, we are going to go out in just one, two hours.
“So I trusted him and I went into the vehicle, and they brought me to the police station,” Lisa said, adding that once she was there, she was told that she would be fined RM1,000 for allegedly being in a group, and violating the MCO.
She was later released on police bail.
She was informed via a letter to attend court to pay up her fine on May 12, but Lisa said events afterwards were not as straightforward.
Lisa claimed that she was told by the police to just admit her offence and pay the fine in court, and if she does not, the bail sum would run into few thousands ringgit.
“PDRM told me like that, my lawyer too told me the same. So I admitted, and suddenly the judge (magistrate) said that I will be sentenced to jail for 30 days. I was shocked at that time, because everyone told me that I would just be paying the fine,” she said.
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Lisa said that she was immediately handcuffed by the police and taken to the Kajang Prison, where she ultimately spent eight days in a crowded cell of 38 people.
She said she was confused by the penalty, as there were two similar cases before her, whereby the offenders were slapped with an RM800 and RM1,000 fine each, and escaped jail.
On the eighth day in prison, Lisa was told that she would need to be presented at the High Court, after which she realised that her case was fixed for an appeal.
On that day, Lisa was finally free, after paying RM1,000 and spending eight days in jail.
She had also taken to her Facebook page later, comparing her penalty to the RM800 fine that Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid and her husband received for a similar offence.
In the since-deleted Facebook post, Lisa also questioned if she was a second-class citizen in her home country.
“That Facebook post, I did it because I was angry at that time. I was not satisfied because a Datuk's daughter, with [an offence] similar to my case got just RM800.
“Another thing was regarding the deputy health minister who was eating together in a group. That is also a group. He was in a group,” she said, adding that, that was seemingly not taken into consideration by the court when imposing penalty.
On April 28, Deputy Health Minister I Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, together with Perak executive councillor Razman Zakaria and 13 other individuals were fined RM1,000 each by the Magistrate’s Court in Ipoh, for defying the MCO by attending a lunch gathering in Lenggong on April 17. The duo had previously tendered a public apology after heightened backlash from the public.
Lisa told the press that she merely wanted to create awareness on the issues faced by her, to prevent anyone else from going through the same ordeal as hers.
“This might happen to anyone. I want to create awareness,” she said.
Prabakaran meanwhile said that he would be highlighting Lisa's plight in the upcoming parliamentary sitting.
“What she is seeking is justice, so in that part I am working with the lawyers to review back and also their lawyers as well,” he said, referring to Dayalan's legal team members.
“The point that I want to state here is the double standards. As a judiciary body it should not be that way,” Prabakaran said, adding that a fair system must be imposed and the eight days Lisa spent in jail was “totally unnecessary”.
