GEORGE TOWN: Seven men, who were detained while playing football at Padang Jalan DS Ramanathan in Pulau Tikus here last Thursday, were sentenced to three months of "compulsory work" and fined RM1,000 by the Magistrate's Court here for violating the Movement Control Order (MCO).
This is believed to be the first such sentence meted out under the Offenders Compulsory Attendance Act 1954 against those caught violating the MCO.
K. Balaparameswaran, K. Ghokulan, Jamal Mohamed Abdul Karim, V. Narindran, P. Logesvaran and S.S. Dharanidharan, all 24, and A. Shanmugam, 56, pleaded guilty when the charge was read separately to them before Magistrate Jamaliah Abd Manap.
When they were detained, all were playing football at the field except for Shanmugam, who was jogging around the field.
Balaparameswaran, Ghokulan, Jamal, Narindran, Logesvaran, Dharanidharan and Shanmugam admitted to the offence.
They were charged under Section 3(1) of the of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, punishable under Section 7(1) of the same Regulations which carries a maximum six months' jail or maximum RM1,000 fine or both upon conviction.
Jamaliah initially sentenced all the seven accused to three months' jail and RM1,000 fine each, in default of another three months' jail for their offence.
She subsequently handed down an alternative sentence under the Offenders Compulsory Attendance Act 1954, which is three months of compulsory work, to be determined by the prison authorities, and an RM1,000 fine each.
The accused will have to carry hour four hours of compulsory work daily.
"The court's duty is not merely to penalise the accused but also to create awareness on the offence committed. As such, the jail sentence is replaced with that of the Offenders Compulsory Attendance.
"If any of the accused fails to report himself for the compulsory work at any time, his sentence will be reverted back to the initial jail sentence," she said, adding that the sentence takes immediate effect.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Rais Imran Hamid told the court that the MCO had been widely publicised, which meant that the accused could not plead ignorance.
"The government had gazetted the stay-at-home order and everyone should abide by it," he added.
The accused's lawyer Cheah Eng Soon had told the court that this was his clients' first ever offence and that they were unaware of the MCO.
"They regretted their action and promised not the repeat it in the future," he added.