Ministers, country heads fined for violating Covid-19 rules
State authorities worldwide are imposing restrictions and establishing penalties strictly to reduce the spread of Covid-19 as much as possible which in some places do not spare the top brass of administrations. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha being the latest.
Here are nine global ministers who were fined for not complying with health rules enforced by the very country they run.
Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was fined $190 after a photo published on his official Facebook page that showed him attending a government meeting on vaccination maskless.
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Thailand authorities have recently started imposing fines of up to 20,000 baht ($880) for people who fail to wear face masks in public in 48 provinces, as the government struggles to cope with a new wave of coronavirus cases that is straining the medical system.
Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg was fined 20,000 Norwegian crowns ($2,352) by police earlier this month for breaking Covid-19 social distancing rules.
The two-term prime minister apologised last month for organising an event to celebrate her 60th birthday with 13 family members at a mountain resort in late February, despite a government ban on events attended by more than 10 people.
Chile President Sebastián Piñera was fined $3,500 for breaching coronavirus rules in December 2020 by posing for a selfie with no facemask.
Piñera apologised after the photo of him with a woman - also without a mask - went viral earlier this month. The president later admitted he should have worn a mask when the woman requested a photo on a beach near his home in the town of Cachagua.
Dutch Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus was fined by prosecutors in September 2020 after he was pictured breaking coronavirus social distancing measures at his wedding.
He had to pay $460 for the breaches and was forced to apologise in parliament over the row.
Bulgaria Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was fined 300 levs ($174) for violating an order to wear a protective face mask during a visit to a church in June 2020.
The Bulgarian health ministry also had confirmed that journalists, photographers and camera people who accompanied Borissov into the church without masks would be fined as well.
Romania Prime Minister Ludovic Orban was fined NZ$1110 ($799) for breaching his own Covid-19 restrictions by not wearing a face mask and smoking inside.
According to a report from Romanian state news agency Agerpres, the Prime Minister was pictured smoking with several of his cabinet members in May 2020.
Malaysia Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali was fined RM1,000 in April 2020 by a magistrate court after he pleaded guilty for breaching the Movement Control Order (MCO) to restrict Covid-19 spread.
He, alongside a state executive councillor, was photographed sharing meals with a group of people at a school in Perak, Malaysia. The image was uploaded to Dr Noor Azmi's Facebook page but was later removed after it brought public outcry.
South Africa Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams had to pay an admission of guilt fine of 1,000 Rand ($53) after she had breached lockdown regulations in April 2020.
Earlier, she was suspended for two months after President Cyril Ramaphosa acted swiftly following a public outcry over her violation of the 35-day lockdown.
Australia Arts Minister Don Harwin of New South Wales was fined $1,000 for breaching the state's coronavirus public health order.
New South Wales police said Harwin was spotted earlier in the week at his Pearl Beach house, more than an hour's drive from his east Sydney primary residence in April last year. He had later resigned from his post.
