NURULHIDAYAH Ahmad Zahid daughter of Former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and her husband Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff were each fined RM800 by the magistrate court on May 5th Tuesday for violating the movement control order (MCO) last month in Putrajaya Malaysia.
Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid and her husband Datuk Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff were charged by the police after a decision made by the Attorney-General’s chamber on Saturday (May 2) because of violating the MCO.
Both confessed that they were enroute to the Department of Environment (DOE) in Putrajaya from their house at Jalan Bayu Nyaman, Country Heights in Kajang on April 20th at 9 am.
There is a picture posted on Instagram by Ms. Nurulhidayah regarding her meeting with two of the government ministers and the caption of the picture is after she “was done” with the meeting with the Religious Affair Minister, then she made a trip to meet Deputy Environment Minister Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad, whom she described as “a dear friend to our family” because he was the former political adviser to her father.
During movement control order (MCO) the public is ordered to leave their house only to buy groceries, medicines, and food. A few of these restrictions have been relieved since Monday.
“The court meted out the sentence on grounds that the offense took place during the third phase of MCO upon request by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Ashikin Mokhtar earlier Tuesday (May 5th). Netizens wishing to move about are only able to do so within a 10km radius their home based upon restrictions input in place during phase 3 of the MCO.
Mrs. Nurulhidayah and her husband appointed Ahmad Zaidi Zainal as a lawyer and he asked the court to impose a bond on his clients instead as a warning. He further said that “if the court does not impose the bond we wish for a fine because my clients attended the meeting with the Deputy Environment Minister and Religious Affair Minister by the latter’s invitation to discuss a celebration for Earth Day,”
A letter dated April 17th which has the head letter of the ministry addressing Mrs. Nurulhidayah was produced by the lawyer to the court.
The court interpreter read the charges out to Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff and his wife Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid before they pleaded guilty. Magistrate Shah Wira Abdul Halim then handed down the fine to them and informed the duo that if they failed to pay the penalty they would need to stay in jail for three months.
RM1,000 or six months in jail or both are the maximum penalties for breaching the movement control order (MCO). They both paid the penalty for violating MCO.