Over 4,000 MCO arrests so far, says Ismail Sabri

PETALING JAYA: A total of 4,189 people have been arrested and 1,449 charged for violating the movement control order (MCO) since it came into force on March 18, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Defence Minister said that on Wednesday (April 1), 562 were detained compared to 583 arrests on Tuesday (March 31) and 742 arrests on Monday (March 30).

“The government would like to express its appreciation to Malaysians for their cooperation because of the increasing level of compliance towards the MCO, ” he said during a press conference on Thursday (April 2).

He said there had been a decrease of 3.6% in arrests in relation to the MCO.

“If this trend continues, God willing, the MCO will be a success and we hope the spread of Covid-19 is contained, ” he said.

Ismail said the police, together with the army, had conducted 687 roadblocks and checked 380,342 vehicles.

He added that the police had conducted 23,256 spot-checks, with 3,791 premises checked by them.

A total of 64,565 personnel were involved in the implementation of the MCO.

The maximum sentence for violating the MCO is six months jail or a RM1,000 fine, or both.

Those violating the MCO can be charged under Order 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Declaration of Infected Local Areas) Order 2020.