COMMENT | Dissatisfying conclusion to Khairuddin's case

COMMENT | After months of waiting, the curious case of Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Khairuddin Aman Razali reached its conclusion.

To recap, back in August, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok revealed in the Dewan Rakyat that Khairuddin (above) had travelled to Turkey on July 3 and did not quarantine himself once he returned to Malaysia.

At the time, the reason given for not undergoing quarantine was that he had taken the Covid-19 test and was found to be negative.

Then on Aug 22, the Health Ministry issued a statement. It said that Khairuddin had indeed breached the quarantine rule when he did not self-quarantine upon his return to Malaysia.

According to the statement, the minister was issued a compound notice of RM1,000 and he purportedly paid it on Aug 7.

Not long after that, Khairuddin apologised to Malaysians and announced that he would return his ministerial salary from May to August, and contribute the amount to the National Disaster Relief Fund (Covid-19 Fund).

However, public anger did not abate. The police then announced that they would investigate him as numerous police reports were lodged against the PAS politician.

Khairuddin’s case has gone back and forth between the police and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) several times in the preceding two months.

Finally, on Oct 21, Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Huzir Mohamed in a press conference revealed that the attorney-general (AG) had decided not to take action...