Muda concerned house arrest bill may benefit certain quarters

Muda asked if the house arrest bill, which was included in yesterday’s Budget 2025 speech, was to benefit certain quarters.

Party central executive committee member Dobby Chew said such legislation was not suitable to be applied to those who committed major crimes.

“Of course, this is subject to what the final bill would look like because everyone is concerned about having someone who is not suitable to mix with society because of a major crime that has been committed,” he said.

He was speaking during a press conference at Muda’s rebranding event in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, today.

Chew (above) said while the government may be attempting to resolve prison overcrowding, Putrajaya should be transparent in the process of drafting the bill.

This is to ensure the requirements for convicted persons to undergo house arrest are stringent, he said.

Yesterday, the government indicated plans to draft a new law to allow “house arrest” as an alternative punishment for selected offences.

While Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim did not mention this when delivering the budget speech, the plans were included in the printout of his speech released by the Finance Ministry.

“The government will draft a new law to allow for home detention as an alternative (punishment) for selected offences.

“The offender will be required to be at a place deemed suitable such as a residential home, a care home, or a workers’ hostel throughout the period of detention, under set conditions, and observed by a Prison Department officer,” the printout read.

Currently, no prisoners in Malaysia can apply for house arrest as there is no such provision in the country’s legal system, according to lawyers.

Lighter sentence for elites?

Earlier today, PKR MP Hassan Abdul Karim found it bizarre that Anwar touched on the issue of house arrest in his Budget 2025 speech.

The Pasir Gudang lawmaker asked if this was an attempt to start the groundwork for laws to be amended to “lighten the sentence for certain elite groups”.

On April 3, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed an addendum in a recent royal pardon allowed him to serve the remaining of his six-year jail term under house arrest.

The former finance minister made this allegation in a judicial review leave application filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on April 1.

Najib was seeking a court order to compel the home minister, attorney-general, Pardons Board, federal government, and a few other respondents to confirm this alleged addendum in the royal pardon that halved his initial 12-year jail sentence to six years over the RM42 million SRC International corruption case.

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