Coronavirus: Daughter of Malaysia’s former deputy PM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi fined for flouting lockdown

Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid and her husband were fined 800 ringgit each for leaving their house for a meeting with a deputy minister on April 20

They broke the Covid-19 movement control order which restricted travel outside a 10km radius

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Former Malaysian deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi waves to media in Putrajaya in 2018. His daughter and son-in-law have been fined for contravening Malaysia’s Covid-19 movement control order. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:17pm, 5 May 2020Updated: 9:19pm, 5 May 2020

The daughter and son-in-law of Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have been fined 800 ringgit (US$185) each by a magistrate’s court in Putrajaya for breaking the coronavirus movement control order (MCO).

Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid, 41, and her husband Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff, 49, both pleaded guilty after the charges were read out separately before the magistrate on Tuesday.

They admitted to moving from a house in Kajang and heading towards the Department of Environment (DOE) in Putrajaya at 9am on April 20.

The offence under Rule 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020 carries a maximum fine of 1,000 ringgit or up to six months in jail or both, upon conviction.

The magistrate also ordered the couple to serve three months in jail if they fail to pay the fine.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Ashikin Mokhtar asked the court to mete out a heavy sentence of maximum fine and imprisonment on the grounds that the offence took place during the third phase of MCO, which restricted travel outside a 10km radius.

“Their reasoning that they were invited by the minister was no excuse for them breaking the MCO,” she said.

Lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, who represented the couple, asked for the court to impose a bond on his clients instead, as a warning.