PUTRAJAYA: Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's daughter and son-in-law were fined RM800 each for breaching the Movement Control Order (MCO) recently.
Datuk Nurul Hidayah Ahmad Zahid and her husband, Datuk Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff, both pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them separately before Magistrate Shah Wira Abdul Halim today.
The court barred newsmen from covering the proceedings, which was supposed to be a public hearing, without providing reasons.
However, friends and families of the accused were allowed in the public gallery during the proceedings.
Nurul Hidayah and Saiful Nizam were charged under Regulation 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020.
The offence carries a maximum RM1,000 fine or six months imprisonment, upon conviction.
Both of them who came together were not camera shy when they were swarmed by photographers upon arrival at the Palace of Justice compound at about 8.30am.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Nur Ashikin Mokhtar and Zulaaikha Mohd Apandi prosecuted while counsel Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Zainal and Datuk Rosal Azimin Ahmad represented the accused.
In mitigation, Ahmad Zaidi asked the court to impose bonds on his clients as a warning because he said the duo received a letter from a deputy minister to attend a meeting for Earth Day celebrations.
However, Nur Ashikin asked the court to imposed maximum fine and jail as the offence took place during the phase three of the MCO.
She said an invitation from a deputy minister to attend a meeting cannot be an excuse for the accused to flout the MCO.
Criminal Investigations Department chief Datuk Huzir Mohamed had earlier said police opened an investigation paper on the MCO violation by Nurul and Saiful, the evidence of which had been uploaded to an Instagram account.
The couple had flouted the MCO when they met Deputy Environment Minister Datuk Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad at the Environment Ministry after an earlier meeting with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri.
In a photo featuring the couple, which appeared on Instagram, the accompanying caption read: "After we met the Religious Affairs Minister, we went to the Environment Ministry to meet Datuk Masrizal, the Deputy Minister. We exchanged ideas and held a discussion, which has been YB Datuk Dr Masrizal's and my way (of doing things) since the days when he had been my father @AhmadZahidHamidi's political secretary. A dear friend to our family."