Chief of Defence Forces denies the military authorised to beat up people

Chief of Defence Forces (ATM) Tan Sri General Affendi Buang has denied a voice recording that had gone viral that the army purportedly were given authorisation to beat up people who defied the Movement Control Order.

He also dismissed a message requesting ATM veterans to assist the police in enforcing the 14-day order while urging all parties to stop spreading false information to avoid any kind of speculation and panic among the people.

General Affendi had also asserted that any person found to be spreading false news could be prosecuted under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (AKM) 1998.

"The public need not worry when it comes to the presence of the military from all three branches of services namely land, sea and air as this is a secondary function of ATM in times of peace, which is to assist the authorities in maintaining peace.

"The public must cooperate in complying with the Movement Control Order to prevent transmission of COVID-19 as effectively as possible," he said.

A voice recording and message that had been spreading via WhatsApp application and other social media mediums were as follows:

"Assalamualaikum, good evening everyone. If I were to call you one by one, I am not able to. So, I will just make use of this group (to disseminate this information). All of us in the army have made preparations. If there is anyone who flouts the directives of the Movement Control Order, without saying much, we’ll just beat them up.” The voice recording lasted 39 seconds.

Another message read: "The Ministry of Defence will seek the help of the army veterans from all three services to assist the authorities in enforcing the Movement Control Order on the people.”