House Arrest Bill not for Najib’s benefit, says govt

The Star

The government denies claims that the House Arrest Bill (RUU) was enacted to free former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.  At a press conference following the Cabinet meeting on Friday (Oct 25), Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil clarified that the Bill supports a shift t from punitive to restorative justice.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/mt43bmvz  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00What are the conditions to release or release Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other VIPs from prison?

00:09Oh, this is not true. So, recently, in the National Social Council meeting,

00:15which was chaired by the Ministerial Staff Committee,

00:20and which the Ministerial Staff Committee in the country has given a comprehensive context,

00:26the discussion on the transfer or the creation of a new article on detention at home

00:37started at the beginning of last year in the context of what is referred to as

00:42the change of government's view from punitive to restorative justice,

00:52where the concept of justice is to return an individual who has been found guilty back to the community.

01:01Among the government's desires, first, we found last year that the number of people in prison

01:09is more than the capacity that it should be.

01:13The capacity of our prisoners is around 74,000, but last year there were 87,000.

01:25So last year, a pilot project was held where 5,000 people

01:31went through the process of rehabilitation in the community.

01:39Some of them were subject to certain conditions,

01:46and some were released early.

01:53And most of them are among those who are perhaps referred to as

02:04cases that are not too serious, not involving murder, for example,

02:11or cases where the sentence is more than a number of years,

02:17so cases that are considered not serious.

02:21The intention is to reduce the possibility of these perpetrators returning to prison after they are released.

02:30This is referred to as recidivism.

02:33Based on research carried out on this pilot project involving around 5,000 people,

02:40it shows that the rate of recidivism has dropped to around 15%.

02:49This is a fairly good figure, and last year,

02:52the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Prisons

02:58received a contribution of around RM19 million.

03:04So in this pilot project, it can be expanded,

03:12because at this time there are still 82,000 people in prison,

03:18while our prisons have a capacity of 74,000 people.

03:23And one of the things that needs to be done is the detention at home.

03:29So a special document needs to be submitted,

03:34taking into account the existing laws,

03:37and also the definition of several aspects in terms of detention.

03:43This has been discussed since last year,

03:45and the intention is in line with what we call restorative justice.

03:50So if we look at what the government has been doing,

03:55including the moratorium on death penalty, mandatory,

04:06and also the changes that have been made,

04:10which do not bind the judges to the mandatory death penalty,

04:19then we can see that overall,

04:22this is a government attitude that is more in line with restorative justice.

04:28It has nothing to do with individuals,

04:31but when we look at the ecosystem as a whole,

04:34we need to act in accordance with the times.

04:39Many countries practice the concept of restorative justice,

04:44and we are also heading in that direction.

04:46And as I mentioned earlier,

04:50these mandates can be more accepted by the community

04:54when they spend their detention in the community.

05:02And that can help reduce the cost, burden,

05:06and also the pressure on the social system in our country

05:11when we are able to control the recidivism that I mentioned earlier.

05:19I'm sorry for the exaggeration, but I think I need to explain.

05:23My name is Ayati from Benama.

05:25Do you know the duration of the investigation?

05:29It was six years ago until now.

05:32So, there is a report that was published in the National Social Council

05:37a few days ago,

05:40before the launch of the National Social Basis.

05:44So, the National Social Council meeting was held three times this year.

05:50And this confirms how important it is for the government

05:55to look at the social issues that are affecting the people in our country,

06:01including the issue of justice,

06:05and what I mentioned earlier as restorative justice.

06:09We want to address the problems faced by the Ministry of Prison

06:13as a whole,

06:17without hindering the safety aspect for the public.

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