“Under the regulation, it has now become a seizable offence and anyone suspected of breaching the MCO can be arrested without a warrant,” lawyer A Srimurugan said.
The Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 comes into effect on March 11 and Section 21B has classified breaching the MCO as seizable.
This, however, has raised questions over the thousands of arrests over the last one year, with lawyers questioning their legality.
Srimurugan said it is non-seizable currently, meaning police could not arrest anyone. However, it is common knowledge that many are arrested daily.
Last week, home minister Hamzah Zainudin said 30,921 arrests had been made and 64,651 compounds issued for MCO violations last year.
He said 3,460 remand orders were obtained and 23,012 people charged.
Srimurugan said that until March 11, offenders can settle the matter by paying a compound fine of RM1,000.
After that date, any individual who breaches the MCO regulations faces compound fines of up to RM10,000 while companies will be liable to a maximum fine up to RM50,000.
Also in the ordinance is an amendment on general penalty under Section 24, which states that any person who breaches the law for “which no penalty is expressly provided” can face a fine of up to RM100,000 or a jail sentence of up to seven years.
Currently, it is a fine of RM1,000 or a maximum of six months’ jail.
Srimurugan said there were wider implications if one were to be charged in court and fined excessively.
“An elected representative risks losing his or her seat if fined more than RM2,000 or jailed more than 12 months,” he said.
Lawyer N Sivananthan also said the government had made any breach of the MCO a serious offence by raising the compound fine and the penalty imposed by the court.
“Police can now (after March 11) detain suspects for up to 24 hours for investigation and then offer them compound fines,” he said.
However, he was of the view that police would use their discretion to issue compound fines on the spot instead of holding offenders in lock-ups to prevent the spread of Covid-19.