UNITY government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil has denied any link between Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent announcement of plans to introduce a new law on house arrest.
He said the bill is not about any individual but rather the government adapting from a punitive justice to a restorative justice system.
"Many countries are adopting restorative justice, and we are moving in that direction too," he said in a weekly press conference in Putrajaya.
Fahmi, who is also the Communications Minister, said the proposed law, included as part of the government's budget plans for 2025, was in line with other recent criminal justice reforms, such as the abolition of mandatory death sentences and a moratorium on executions.
"The law has been discussed since last year and the government has been working on shifting away from punitive justice," he said.
He said one of the government's priorities stems from last year's discovery that the prison population exceeded the system's intended capacity.
While the capacity of our prisons is approximately 74,000, last year saw a total of 87,000 inmates.
He said a pilot project last year saw 5,000 individuals undergoing community-based rehabilitation.
“This is a good figure. The home minister last year also informed us that his ministry and the prisons department saw savings of RM19 million thanks to this effort,” he said.
Najib, 71, who is also a former prime minister, is currently serving his jail term as he was convicted over the misappropriation of former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million, and cannot speak to the public directly as a prisoner. - October 25, 2024
