KUALA LUMPUR – The Prisons Department will conduct risk assessments before inmates are deemed eligible for community rehabilitation programmes.
Its Deputy Commissioner-General (Security and Correctional) Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Razak said his team would ensure inmates reached a certain assessment level while serving their sentence in prison, so they would not pose a threat to the community before being selected to join the rehabilitation programme.
“They (prisoners) will always be under our surveillance but not shackled as risk assessment has been done.
“Not all inmates will be taken out, but their participation in the programmes will be guided by the level of rehabilitation they have achieved…we will decide (if) they are safe for society before they are taken out,” he said as a guest on Bernama TV’s Apa Khabar Malaysia programme here today.
Aziz said community support is crucial for the programmes to succeed.
“The Prisons Department has played its role with various companies to ensure they (inmates) get jobs, are covered by insurance, receive Employees Provident Fund contributions, and are paid according to the minimum wage enforced by the government,” he added. – Bernama, March 13, 2023