Eleven men remanded for violating FMCO SOPs by holding funeral procession in Penang

BUTTERWORTH – A group of men were nabbed for allegedly breaking the Full Movement Control Order’s (FMCO) standard operating procedure (SOP) by organizing a funeral procession, which began from Teluk Air Tawar to the cremation grounds at Jalan Siram on Thursday (June 17).

Seberang Perai Utara OCPD Asst Comm Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the men were aged from 15 to 35 years old.

Police have opened an investigation paper after receiving a report on the incident and remanded the men for four days.

The viral 56-second video, which was uploaded on TikTok by a user named @budakpenang7, showed six men carrying the coffin on their shoulders while the rest beat the drums and held banners honouring the deceased.

However, the video was taken down yesterday (June 20).

The men are currently being investigated for being suspected members of an illegal society, misusing social media, potentially spreading a life-threatening disease, and gathering illegally during FMCO.

Police are also hunting down several others in connection to the incident, which was said to have around 15-20 individuals in attendance.

The group were believed to be friends of the 23-year-old man who died at the Seberang Jaya Hospital due to tuberculosis.

Sources: NST

Editor: Raymond Chen
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh