COMMENTS:
Police officers in their zeal to enforced the laws, sometimes simply catch everyone they see on the roads, including teenagers and young people, who naturally go out for sunshine and walk... Wrong time and wrong place, so they were caught and charge in courts?! Fine of RM1000 and imprisonment up to 6 months? (more than the MCO or restriction movement control periods of 14 to 28 days?).
AND/OR a fine of RM1000, whereas even a RM200-300 fine would be a lot for the B40 group. These police officers can simply give verbal warnings to scare them off, UNLESS its a repeat offenders or 'hardcore' offenders. I naturally do NOT believed in 'harsh' punishment for the PKP/MCO offenders.
The Human Rights NGOs should ensure that the police/ATM do not 'abused' or 'mis-used' their power! And the courts to use their discretion power to imposed a lesser sentences or DISMISSED the cases (if the so-called offenders have valid reasons - which was previously ignored by the police) !!
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SOURCE:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/2020/04/05/guna-budi-bicara-hukum-pesalah-ingkar-pkp-kata-ketua-hakim/?fbclid=IwAR0kyr_lmWd42jkXV0SFDdn0e7SNlLt-kEtv2zFtnD_BpmepS4sJHKRh6xQ
Guna budi bicara hukum pesalah ingkar PKP, kata ketua hakim
ETALING JAYA: Ketua Hakim Negara Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat menyeru hakim mahkamah menggunakan budi bicara dalam mengenakan hukuman terhadap pesalah yang melanggar Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP) dengan mengambil kira risiko penularan Covid-19 di penjara.
Pejabat Ketua Pendaftar Mahkamah Persekutuan memaklumkan semua majistret dan hakim Mahkamah Sesyen perlu mempertimbangkan masalah kesesakan di dalam penjara.
“Di samping mengambil kira peruntukan hukuman berdasarkan undang-undang yang sedia ada, masalah berkenaan risiko penularan wabak covid-19 yang bakal dihadapi oleh penjara-penjara di Malaysia boleh juga diambil pertimbangan,” kata pejabat itu dalam satu kenyataan.
Kenyataan itu juga mengesahkan badan kehakiman menerima surat daripada Ketua Pengarah Penjara Zulkifli Omar, yang mencadangkan supaya hakim menggunakan Akta Perintah Kehadiran Wajib Pesalah-Pesalah 1954 untuk memerintahkan pesalah MCO melakukan khidmat masyarakat wajib, bukannya menghantar mereka ke penjara.
Zulkifli, dalam satu surat kepada Ketua Pendaftar Mahkamah Persekutuan, Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, berkata langkah itu bagi mengelakkan sebarang kemungkinan virus itu tersebar dalam kalangan penghuni dan kakitangan penjara.
Beliau berkata tahanan baru akan menambahkan lagi kesesakan dalam penjara dan jabatan itu juga bimbang virus itu merebak kerana status kesihatan pendatang baru tidak diketahui.
Beliau berkata penjarakkan sosial tidak dapat dikuat kuasakan dan ini memberi ancaman kepada penghuni dan kakitangan penjara sedia ada.
Melanggar PKP boleh dihukum sehingga 6 bulan penjara, atau denda sehingga RM1,000, atau kedua-duanya.
Sementara itu, Presiden Majlis Peguam Salim Bashir berkata peringatan Tengku Maimun kepada kakitangan bawahannya tepat pada masanya kerana hakim perbicaraan mempunyai budi bicara untuk menjalankan hukuman, berdasarkan undang-undang yang ada.
Salim berkata mahkamah boleh mengenakan denda minimum, penjara sehari atau mengikat mereka untuk menunjukkan tingkah laku yang baik.
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SOURCE:
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/04/05/stop-sending-mco-violators-to-jail?fbclid=IwAR2x9CypB_BOonW99AyoyWDgNmjweX327OMvHmQc6STzA6t3q9H6MgS6DL4
‘Stop sending MCO violators to jail’
KUALA LUMPUR: The judiciary has been asked to stop jailing violators of the movement control order (MCO) to avoid overcrowding in prisons, which could lead to the spread of the coronavirus.
Chief Registrar’s Office corporate communications unit director Suzarika Sahak confirmed that Federal Court Chief Registrar Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh had received a letter from the Prisons Department regarding the matter.
Prisons Department director-general Datuk Seri Zulkifli Omar is said to have signed the letter, saying social distancing was “impossible” in prisons due to overcrowding.
“Apart from adding on to the already crowded prisons, the Prisons Department is concerned that they could become the source of Covid-19 outbreaks there as their health status is not known.
“The Prisons Department is of the opinion that it will become a major issue if there is a Covid-19 outbreak in prison as social distancing is impossible there and could spread uncontrollably, threatening the lives of prisoners and prison staff,” the department was quoted as saying by a news portal.
Zulkifli reportedly recommended that the courts mete out community service punishments under the Offenders Compulsory Attendance Act.
The MCO has been in effect since March 18 in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Under Rule 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, a person caught and convicted of violating the MCO could be fined up to RM1,000 or jailed up to six months.
When contacted, Malaysian Bar president Salim Bashir Bhaskaran said the Prisons Department had made a “valid concern and request”.
“Space constraint and the internal mechanisms that inevitably expose one to be in close contact with each other will lead to a strong likelihood of infections. Any infection among inmates will be an unimaginable catastrophe in prisons,” he added.
He said the court should be proactive and take into account the circumstances surrounding the facts of the cases in sentencing.
For instance, Salim said, community services imposed on the wrongdoers would essentially serve the purpose of the punishment, which is to teach them to be responsible and obey the law.
Alternatively, he said the court could also mete out bound-over sentences for offenders who breached the MCO.
“Compounding the offence is also a viable option to prevent one from being sent to prison,” he said.
Salim noted that since the breach of MCO is not an offence involving violence, the court should exercise its judicial discretion in imposing sentences that are suitable in this period of time.
Senior criminal lawyer and author Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu said the department made the right decision in making the request as the police and court staff were exposed to unnecessary risks with the arrests.
“The MCO offences are not a serious offence and there are other ways to deal with it. It will be total chaos if Covid-19 is spread in the prison cells,” he said.
Criminal lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad echoed the concern over the possibility of a contagion in prisons.
“Logistics-wise, would the department be able to cope with a sudden increase of inmates and in the worst case scenario, with the spreading of the virus in prisons?” he asked.
Amer said the frontliners would be overwhelmed if such a spread happened in prisons.
“We are dealing with an unprecedented situation, so whatever sentence the court wishes to mete out, it must take this into consideration too,” he added.
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SOURCE:
https://www.hmetro.com.my/mutakhir/2020/04/563258/513-tangkapan-dalam-lima-hari
513 tangkapan dalam lima hari
SEBANYAK 513 tangkapan dilakukan polis Selangor dalam tempoh lima hari pertama Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP) fasa kedua yang bermula pada 1 April lalu.
Jumlah berkenaan meningkat secara mendadak berbanding hanya tiga kes pada tempoh sama ketika PKP fasa pertama dijalankan bermula 18 hingga 22 Mac.
Jurucakap khas Op Covid-19 Selangor, Asisten Komisioner Mohd Ismail Muslim berkata, tangkapan lebih banyak dilakukan pada fasa kedua PKP kerana ia fasa lebih tegas susulan kadar pematuhan sangat rendah dalam kalangan masyarakat.
“Fasa pertama lebih kepada nasihat serta peringatan kepada masyarakat, justeru hanya tiga tangkapan dilakukan, tetapi fasa kedua kita lebih tegas.
“Kita perlu tegas untuk mengekang masyarakat daripada melakukan pergerakan tanpa alasan munasabah seterusnya menyumbang kepada peningkatan kes Covid-19,” katanya pada sidang media di Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen (IPK) Selangor di Shah Alam, hari ini.
Beliau berkata, secara kumulatif sebanyak 1,225 kes tangkapan dilakukan polis Selangor sepanjang tempoh PKP yang membabitkan 1,154 lelaki serta 71 wanita.
Katanya, 57 daripada keseluruhan kes berkenaan sudah dituduh mengikut Seksyen 186 Kanun Keseksaan dan Peraturan 11 (1) Peraturan-Peraturan Pengawalan Penyakit Berjangkit (Langkah-Langkah Di Dalam Kawasan Tempatan Jangkitan) 2020.
“Dalam aspek pematuhan pula, kesedaran masyarakat meningkat apabila tahap pematuhan terhadap PKP berada pada tahan 93 peratus.
“Kesungguhan polis Selangor mengekang penularan wabak Covid-19 jelas apabila lebih 90 sekatan jalan raya diadakan selama 24 jam di seluruh negeri.
“Sekatan dijalankan di kawasan tumpuan umum serta pintu masuk lebuh raya dan laluan alternatif,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, peningkatan sekatan itu dilihat berjaya mengekang pergerakan orang ramai.
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