Justin
TAWAU: Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) will be offering legal assistance to those who have been compounded for violating the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
Sri Tanjong assemblyman Justin Wong in a statement today announced that Sabah DAP has officially started its pro bono legal service to assist individuals who are grossly and manifestly fined by the authorities.
“The party’s National Legal Aid Bureau has kicked started this nationwide initiative on March 15 by its chief Ramkarpal Singh, and Sabah DAP will fully support this initiative,” he said.
“Recently, we received a lot of complaints from the public that the RM10,000 fine is a burden for people, especially with many economic sectors now impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” added Justin who is the main coordinator for this initiative in Sabah.
Since March 11, the fine issued under the Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 has been increased from RM1,000 up to RM10,000.
“This should not have happened in our country, as Malaysia practices parliamentary democracy and the law did not go through the due process in Parliament,” he said.
The party’s legal aid bureau chairman Ramkarpal has announced that DAP will be offering legal assistance to those who have been issued RM10,000 fine under Section 25 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988 to handle Covid-19 regulations.
While amendment of Section 24 of the same Act states that a person can be compounded up to RM10,000 or face imprisonment up to seven years or both.
“Such provisions are amended during Emergency Declaration, it is not debated in the August house. I urge the Federal Government to reconvene the parliament sittings, and let it be debated by the elected MPs who carry the people’s mandate,” he said.
He added that SOPs kept on changing frequently, and people are getting confused with the ambiguous instructions. Even different government authorities are giving various explanations according to the SOPs. This will cause people to be fined inadvertently for violating the SOPs.
Justin said he would also like to thank lawyers in Sabah who are volunteering to provide free legal assistance and help people in hardship.
For those who need legal assistance, they can contact the DAP Legal Aid Bureau at 017-255 2063, email at dap.biroundang@gmail.com or report at http://tinyurl.com/AduanKompoundDAP.
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