The Prisons Department today denied reports that former imam Hoslan Hussin recently converted to Islam two inmates in the Kajang Prison, where he is serving a jail term.

Matters pertaining to the religious conversion of inmates are done through the Islamic Affairs Department, and not through an inmate, the department's public relations unit head Supri Hashim said in a statement.

NONE "When an inmate relates his wish to convert to Islam, the Islamic Affairs Department will be called in and the Prisons Department's religious officers will be the witnesses. This is to ensure the conversion is done properly.

"Our investigations show that one of the alleged inmates had converted in 2009, before Hoslan's arrival. The other is in the process of embracing Islam and this will soon be handled by the Islamic Affairs Department," Supri said.

A religious officer or his assistant would be the imam in the surau at prisons, not the inmates. Any religious programme in the prisons is also conducted by a certified religious officer.

There is a possibility, Supri said, that Hoslan is an imam only in his cell, where other inmates are also placed at night time.

"It is normal that the inmates would alternate as the imam at night, among themselves," he said.

Hoslan's review plea to be heard on April 12

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported on a Harakah Daily article that Hoslan had successfully converted two inmates in the Kajang Prison, where he has been serving a one-year jail term since March 8.

He was jailed by the the Federal Court after he was found guilty of contempt for throwing his shoes at a three member bench after it rejected his appeal against an order to be evicted from his house in a mosque compound.

In a related development veteran lawyer Karpal Singh told Malaysiakini today that Hoslan's judicial review application on the jail sentence will be heard on April 12.

"I received a letter on this from the Federal Court yesterday afternoon. The application will be heard before a five-member bench," Karpal said.

Normally, those who had decided on a matter when a jail sentence is passed will not sit on the review panel.

Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, led a three-member bench with Federal Court judge Suriyadi Halim Omar and Court of Appeal judge Zaleha Zahari, when Hoslan's appeal was heard and the same panel also later meted out the jail sentence for contempt.