And while the familiar regulations for social distancing, curfew, and
limits to crowd numbers are coming into effect - one existing law is
getting much more strict. It's the one regulating border jumpers and
contraband. These outlaw activities have been driving the spike in the
north, and today the PM announced draconian measures to crackdown, even
on that bottle of corona you've been toasting on social media. Here's
more:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"The current prescription of a 3 months incarceration sentence in the
first instance for any convicted border jumper - 3 months in the first
instance and then a year or subsequent offence, we're going to increase
that 3-month penalty to 6 months. Also, we are perhaps not by the way
of the SI because I'm not certain that we can do that by means of
subsidiary legislation but we are going to go to the house and we will
make that border jumping offence, you're charged with the offence of
border jumping, you will not be able to get bail from the magistrate's
court, you will have to go to the supreme court. Anybody found in
possession of any contraband item, will be treated as a border jumper
and charged as a border jumper. We're advised by the Attorney General's
ministry that we can do that by way of the regulations. In any event,
we are going to go to the house on the next occasion and we're going to
amend the principal legislation so that, we can in cases were as things
now stand, people are found in possession of contraband, customs would
detain the contraband articles but then the offenders can make some
arrangement to pay 3 times the duty or 3 times the value of goods and
be allowed to go free, that is absolutely going to change. Starting
with putting in place a provision in the regulation that will allow us
to treat anybody found in possession of contraband as a border jumper.
So, to repeat just to try and be clear, immediately we'll simply treat
you if you're found in possession of corona beer for example, that
seems to be one the favourite of the pictures that are posted on social
media, corona beer seems to be the star of those pictures. Well, you
post pictures with corona beer and let us trace that you and let us
find you in possession and you're immediately going to be charged as a
border jumper."
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