PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid and her husband Datuk Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff who travelled to a ministry for a meeting have been fined RM800 each by a Magistrate’s Court here for breaking the movement control order (MCO).
The 41-year-old daughter of Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Saiful, 49, pleaded guilty after the charges were read out separately at the court.
The couple admitted yesterday to moving from a house at Jalan Bayu Nyaman, Country Heights in Kajang and heading towards the Department of Environment here at 9am on April 20.
The offence under Rule 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020 carries a maximum fine of RM1,000 or up to six months’ jail, or both, upon conviction.
Magistrate Shah Wira Abdul Halim also ordered the couple to serve three months in jail if they failed to pay the fine.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Ashikin Mokhtar asked the court to mete out a heavy sentence of the maximum fine and imprisonment on grounds that the offence took place during the third phase of the MCO.
Phase Three of the MCO – from April 15 to 28 – restricted travel beyond a 10km radius.
“Their reasoning that they were invited by a ministry was no excuse for them to violate the MCO,” she said.
Lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, who represented the two, however, asked for the court to impose a bond on his clients as a warning.
“If the court wishes not to impose a bond, we ask for a fine because my client attended the meeting with the deputy minister of the Environment and Water Ministry upon the deputy minister’s invitation to discuss celebrations for Earth Day,” he said.
The lawyer produced the letter dated April 17 to the court, which bore the letterhead of the ministry and was addressed to Nurulhidayah.
The court initially allowed a limited number of reporters to attend the proceedings.
However, they were asked to leave as the court was hearing remand proceedings first.
When Nurulhidayah’s case was called, reporters were barred from re-entering.
Nurulhidayah, who was wearing black from head to toe and covering her face with a niqab (Muslim face covering), was swarmed by newsmen who waited for her to reappear outside the courtroom.
She was investigated by the police over a photo she had uploaded on her Instagram account.
The caption accompanying the picture said after she “was done” with the Religious Affairs Minister, she proceeded to meet Deputy Environment and Water Minister Datuk Dr Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad, whom she described as “a dear friend to our family” as he was her father’s former political aide, in Putrajaya.
The Instagram post drew the ire of netizens who said she should not be out during the MCO.
The 41-year-old daughter of Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Saiful, 49, pleaded guilty after the charges were read out separately at the court.
The couple admitted yesterday to moving from a house at Jalan Bayu Nyaman, Country Heights in Kajang and heading towards the Department of Environment here at 9am on April 20.
The offence under Rule 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020 carries a maximum fine of RM1,000 or up to six months’ jail, or both, upon conviction.
Magistrate Shah Wira Abdul Halim also ordered the couple to serve three months in jail if they failed to pay the fine.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Ashikin Mokhtar asked the court to mete out a heavy sentence of the maximum fine and imprisonment on grounds that the offence took place during the third phase of the MCO.
Phase Three of the MCO – from April 15 to 28 – restricted travel beyond a 10km radius.
“Their reasoning that they were invited by a ministry was no excuse for them to violate the MCO,” she said.
Lawyer Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, who represented the two, however, asked for the court to impose a bond on his clients as a warning.
“If the court wishes not to impose a bond, we ask for a fine because my client attended the meeting with the deputy minister of the Environment and Water Ministry upon the deputy minister’s invitation to discuss celebrations for Earth Day,” he said.
The lawyer produced the letter dated April 17 to the court, which bore the letterhead of the ministry and was addressed to Nurulhidayah.
The court initially allowed a limited number of reporters to attend the proceedings.
However, they were asked to leave as the court was hearing remand proceedings first.
When Nurulhidayah’s case was called, reporters were barred from re-entering.
Nurulhidayah, who was wearing black from head to toe and covering her face with a niqab (Muslim face covering), was swarmed by newsmen who waited for her to reappear outside the courtroom.
She was investigated by the police over a photo she had uploaded on her Instagram account.
The caption accompanying the picture said after she “was done” with the Religious Affairs Minister, she proceeded to meet Deputy Environment and Water Minister Datuk Dr Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad, whom she described as “a dear friend to our family” as he was her father’s former political aide, in Putrajaya.
The Instagram post drew the ire of netizens who said she should not be out during the MCO.
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