BUTTERWORTH: Thirteen individuals, including two teenagers, who allegedly took part in a funeral procession have been charged with violating the movement control order.

       Four were also charged with being gang-affiliated.

       In the Magistrate’s Court here yesterday, M. Thiruselvaan, 21, M. Jagan, 24, Surendran Peeter William, 21, and M. Guganeswaran, 21, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to them before magistrate M. Kalaiarasi.

       Thiruselvaan was charged with having a gang-related spider tattoo on his right shoulder, while Jagan, Surendran and Guganeswaran were charged with having swastika and coin logo banners during the illegal funeral procession at about 2.50pm in Jalan Siram here on June 17.

       They were charged under Section 52(3) of the Societies Act 1966 which carries a maximum jail term of five years and a maximum fine of RM15,000, upon conviction.

       Kalaiarasi set bail at RM3,000 in one surety for each of the accused and fixed Aug 3 for mention.

       In the Sessions Court, all of the accused were charged with violating the MCO by being involved in a funeral procession.

       They were charged along with the other nine individuals before judge Norhayati Mohd Yunus.

       S. Munesvaran, 24, K.S. Surendran, 35, B. Subramaniam, 23, K. Yeshwar, 22, S. Logeswari, 23, and the two teenagers aged 15 and 16 pleaded guilty to the charge.

       They were charged under Rule 9 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2021. The charge carries a maximum fine of RM50,000, six months’ imprisonment or both, upon conviction.

       For this, they were fined RM6,000 each, while the teenagers were allowed RM1,000 bail pending their social report from the Welfare Department before the court makes a decision.

       The remaining accused claimed trial and Norhayati fixed bail at RM3,000 in one surety each and ordered them to report to the nearest police station every month until the end of the case. Norhayati also set Aug 3 for mention.

       On Sunday, police arrested 11 men to assist in the investigation into a group of individuals for allegedly violating the standard operating procedure by being involved in a funeral procession from Teluk Air Tawar to the crematorium in Jalan Siram.

       The suspects, aged 15 to 35, were detained at several locations around Butterworth and Mak Mandin between 6pm and 10pm.

       Police opened an investigation paper on the incident after receiving a report regarding a video clip of the funeral procession that had gone viral on social media.