Some 129 people in the UAE have been referred by the government to the Attorney General’s Office for failing to abide by the quarantine and isolation measures implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported that the violators face a minimum of three years imprisonment or a minimum fine of Dh100,000.
“Pursuant to the Cabinet Resolution No. 17 of 2020, those who fail to comply with home quarantine measures will be referred to the Emergency and Crisis Prosecution at the Federal Public Prosecution if the violation is committed for the third time. They will be tried and jailed for a minimum of three years or fined a minimum of AED100,000 as per the law,” WAM quoted the Chief of the Emergency and Crisis Prosecution as saying, referring to the Attorney-General’s updated Resolution No. 38 of 2020.
The Resolution has provisions on the enforcement of fines and penalties against violators of home quarantine measures.
“First-time offenders will only be fined AED50,000 once a report is filed and the offender is informed of his or her violation. The fine shall be doubled to AED100,000 for second-time offenders,” he added.
Should the violator fail to pay the fine, competent departments will be notified to register the offense in the e-criminal system, at the Ministry of Interior, or at local police departments to collect the fine from him or her in a legal manner,” according to the WAM report.
A mechanism has been developed in agreement with health authorities to ensure that the Emergency and Crisis Prosecution shall be notified in case the violator has tested positive for COVID-19 in order to turn the offense into a criminal case tantamount to the crimes covered by the penal code and the law on combatting communicable diseases, the WAM report further stated.
As per the Cabinet Resolution No. 17 of 2020, the Emergency and Crisis Prosecution may impose fines on first-time offenders and double the fine should the offender repeat the offense for the second time.
There are now 3,360 coronavirus cases across the UAE, of which 418 have recovered and 16 have died, according to the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP).
The increase in the number of confirmed cases resulted from stepped-up drive to test for Covid-19 among residents. Some 49,000 have been conducted in the past days alone.
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