KL court director denies viral messages of 2 judges infected by Covid-19

The Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex dismissed as inauthentic a few viral online messages claiming that two judges were affected by Covid-19.

Kuala Lumpur Court director Ahmad Kamar Jamaludin issued this denial when contacted over the authenticity of the messages, which have been making its rounds on WhatsApp groups since this morning.

“The information is incorrect. Nobody at MKL (Kuala Lumpur Court) were hit (terkena) Covid-19,” he said in a brief text message today.

Since this morning through WhatsApp groups, one of the messages alleged that one Kuala Lumpur high court judge, alongside a court interpreter, had tested positive with Covid-19 and the entire said the high court was claimed to be under quarantine.

The other message being spread through WhatsApp claimed that another Kuala Lumpur High Court judge is suspected of being infected with Covid-19 and is being tested.

Checks by Malaysiakini on one of the allegedly affected courts found its door locked this afternoon, with the A4 paper sign that urged lawyers and members of the public to wear a face mask at all times when having a matter to attend at the said court.

A picture of the A4-sized notice has gone viral online.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Kamar said that currently there is a directive for all chamber proceedings be conducted in open court.

Chamber proceedings refer to court matters that are conducted in the judge’s room rather than the publicly accessible open court.

According to a copy of a letter from the Palace of Justice to all high court judges and judicial commissioners as well as sessions court judges and magistrates of courts in Peninsula Malaysia, the courts were directed to conduct all case managements and mentions in open court rather than in chambers.

The letter, signed by Federal Court judge Mohd Zawawi Salleh who is carrying out the functions and tasks of Chief Judge of Malaya and dated March 6, also directed the courts to vacate all case mediations (to try settle civil court cases) until further notice.

The letter indicated that the above directives were agreed upon following a discussion with the Chief Justice, who is not named in the letter.

At present, the Chief Justice is Tengku Maimun Tengku Mat.

Malaysia is facing its second wave of the spread of Covid-19 as the total confirmed cases in the country have jumped to 55, mainly due to a local transmission cluster involving Case 26.