95pc prisoners in violence, terrorism rehabilitated
Published on: Friday, July 22, 2016
Sandakan: About 95 per cent of prison inmates involved in violence and terrorism have been fully rehabilitated by the prison authorities in the country.Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the inmates who underwent a rehabilitation and de-radicalisation programme were convicted under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota) and Crime Prevention Act 1959 (Poca), among others."The prison is carrying out a rehabilitation programme that has four phases where the inmates would be treated well and given orientation for serving time in jail, secondly in the form of instilling positive values to change their mindset; thirdly providing them with living and vocational skills so that they could contribute to the society; and fourthly, social integration to make them closer with their families in the hope that they will not repeat their offences.
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"We are using this method so that they would be able to return to their families and society compared to the methods used in western countries that are more towards sentencing and torture."In Malaysia, we are taking the basic human right approach which has proved to be successful for the Prisons Department in rehabilitating the inmates," he said, adding that the remaining five per cent comprised inmates who chose not to change for the better.Nur Jazlan said this in a press conference after the conferment of National Sovereignty Medals for Sabah and Labuan, organised by the Prisons Department Sabah, to 316 prisons officers and personnel, here, Thursday.The recipients were among those who were on duty voluntarily during the Sulu incursion into Lahad Datu in March 2013 until June 2013.
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Also present were Prisons Commissioner General Dato' Sri Zulkifli Omar, State and Labuan Prisons Director Suria Idris and other senior officials.Nur Jazlan recalled that during the Sulu incursion into Lahad Datu, a total of 650 prisons personnel from Sabah, Sarawak and the peninsula volunteered to be sent to enhance security measures in several prisons in Sabah without expecting any reward.
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In another development, he said the focus of the Prisons Department now is to provide facilities for individuals arrested and charged with crime and terrorism acts as well as detailed care for each individual who has different needs."The detention of the terrorists needs to be done separately as they could cause threats and danger that may be serious."Furthermore, the Sulu threat in Sabah is not yet over and may continue as long as the Philippine claim on Sabah still lingers."We will always be vigilant and will upgrade and improve the facilities of the prisons and look after the welfare of our personnel," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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