Malaysians Protest Six-Month Jail Sentences for Not Wearing Coronavirus Mask

Dozens of Malaysians staged a demonstration outside the nation’s parliament building in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to urge the federal government to drop extreme penalties for Chinese coronavirus violations such as a six-month jail sentence for anyone found guilty of going out in public without a sanitary mask.

“Individuals [in Malaysia] currently face RM10,000 [$2,374] fines and six months’ jail if they violate COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] restrictions, which include a ban on large gatherings and going out without masks,” the news site Coconuts Kuala Lumpur reported on December 16.

A Malaysian activist youth group called “Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat” organized a protest outside of the Malaysian parliament building on December 16 to demand Kuala Lumpur reduce its stiff penalties for breaching coronavirus protocol.

“Any amendment that increases fine amounts and jail time is harmful to Malaysian citizens,” the group said in a statement intended for Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“We also urge the government to enforce laws fairly,” the statement read.

Malaysia’s federal government is currently considering amendments to the country’s Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act that would increase penalties for failing to comply with the nation’s Chinese coronavirus mandates. The state will seek to raise the maximum penalty for individuals found guilty of violating coronavirus rules to “a fine worth RM50,000 (US$11,800) or three years’ imprisonment,” according to Coconuts Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s Health Ministry “has also reduced its proposed penalties for businesses to a fine of up to RM500,000 [$118,911] instead of RM2 million,” the news site observed.

Malaysia announced on Thursday it would tighten Chinese coronavirus restrictions nationwide in an effort to reduce transmission of the new Omicron variant of the disease, which was first detected in Botswana on November 11.

Malaysian health officials detected the country’s second Omicron case on December 16 in “an 8-year-old traveling with family from Nigeria, where the family resided, via Qatar,” Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters.

“To curb Omicron risks, mass New Year gatherings will be banned and those attending private New Year and Christmas celebrations must undergo COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] self-tests,” Khairy announced.

“Malaysians over 60, and all adult recipients of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, are required to get a booster dose by February to keep their status as ‘fully vaccinated,’” the health minister added.

The Chinese state-owned biopharmaceutical company Sinovac manufactures a Chinese coronavirus vaccine known as “Sinovac” or “CoronaVac.” The inoculation is based on inactivated virus technology. CoronaVac demonstrates an efficacy rate of just 51 percent against the Chinese coronavirus. Despite its relatively low efficacy rate, CoronaVac has managed to receive emergency use approval from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.).

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