KOTA KINABALU: A foreign gardener, who claimed that he removed his face mask to take a breath after rushing to take it, was slapped with three weeks’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here on Friday for not wearing face mask in public place.
Azawan Rajik, an IMM13 holder, 25, pleaded guilty before magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles, to violating the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP), which was an offence under Section 269 of the Penal Code.
The charge carries a jail term of up to six months or a fine or both, upon conviction.
When inquired by court, the accused explained that he was cutting grass at the area when he realised he had left the face mask nearby.
He rushed to take back the face mask and when he arrived at where he was cutting the grass, he took it off to get some air.
At that point, he said that the police came to him and when further inquired by court, he explained that when he was rushing to back to his place of work he was wearing his face mask.
Azawan said that he just took the face mask off when he arrived at his work place because he needed to breath.
He prayed for a non-custodial sentence and according to the prosecution, the accused had been remanded for 15 days as it was learnt that he had another case under Immigration.
Azawan was arrested for negligently breaching the SOP at a bridge near a building in Manggatal on June 4.
The fact of the case stated that the police had conducted Ops Covid-19 PKP 3.0 at the area and during a check the accused was asked to produce his travel document. He had showed his document which was valid.