PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pix) has clarified that all those arrested for violating the movement control order (MCO) will have their statements recorded first, before it is decided if they will be charged in court.
The Senior Minister (Security Cluster) explained that following an arrest, the police would open an investigation paper (IP) against the suspect, before forwarding it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for the next court of action.
“As a rule, all those nabbed will have their statements recorded. And the one who will decide if the person will be charged in court is not the police, but the AGC.
“This standard operating procedure (SOP) is the same for every individual arrested for violating the MCO.
“I repeat, it is not in the power of the police to decide who will be charged, but the AGC,” he said in his daily non-health press conference in Putrajaya today.
Ismail was asked on the SOP for those who violate the movement restriction, following confusions among the public over differential treatment between the “marhaen” and those regarded as VIPs.
This comes following reports that the police have initiated investigation on Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter Datuk Nurulhidayah for disregarding the MCO, with the case to be referred to the AGC for a decision.
The move has caused an uproar on social media, with netizens criticising the government for preferential treatment when others were supposedly dragged straight to court face a fine or sentenced to jail.
Nurulhidayah had previously posted on her Instagram account that she had visited a couple of Cabinet members, in regards to her NGO, together with her husband Datuk Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff.
After she was accused of violating the MCO, Nurulhidayah had challenged her detractors to report her to the police.
Those who violate the MCO face a fine of up to RM1,000 and maximum six months jail.
