PARLIAMENT The government says it has not studied the use of rats and mosquitoes for prison rehabilitation.

"The Prisons Department has not conducted any research on the placement of rats and mosquitoes in prison for the purpose of making inmates repent," Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a written reply last Thursday.

Prison rules state that the inmates must be treated fairly, including having clean cells, Zahid saud in reply to a question from Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang) on this matter.

Zuraida's question comes almost two months after former appellate court judge Mohd Noor Abdullah said that prisons should have "mosquitoes, rats and cockroaches that can be a bother for prisoners".

Mohd Noor later clarified that his comments were only made in passing.

Nevertheless, the remarks were condemned as sadistic.