House arrest bill nothing to do with Najib - minister

Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil denied that the proposed law to allow house arrest of prisoners is not designed to facilitate the release of any specific individual, including VIPs.

He said this amid speculation that the law is meant to pave the way for releasing former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Instead, the communications minister said the main intention is to shift from a previously punitive justice approach to one of “restorative justice” for inmates.

“This is incorrect. It’s not linked to any particular individual, but when we consider the ecosystem as a whole, we need to adapt to the times.

“Many countries practice restorative justice, and we are moving in that direction. Preliminary findings, as I mentioned, show that these inmates can be better accepted by society.

“When they serve the remainder of their sentence within the community, it can help reduce costs, burdens, and pressures on our country’s social system as we manage the recidivism rate (the likelihood to re-offend after release),” he said at a weekly press conference in Putrajaya today.

The proposal for a new law to facilitate house arrests was mentioned in the official text of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Budget 2025 speech, though that portion of the text was not read out when he presented the budget last week.

He proposed that offenders would be confined to a suitable location - such as a residence, care home, or workers’ hostel - under specific conditions, supervised by the Prison Department.

Since then, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said there are about 20,000 prisoners who might qualify for house arrest, namely first-time offenders who did not commit major crimes, pregnant women, senior citizens, and people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said the house arrest bill will also help reduce prison congestion as the facilities now house over 82,000 prisoners, well over their capacity of 74,000.

He added that those eligible under the new law are those whose offences are not too serious, and is sentenced to imprisonment for less than a certain period that would be decided later.

Another goal of the programme is to reduce the likelihood of convicts re-offending and returning to prison upon release after serving their sentence.

Fahmi said a pilot programme had been conducted years ago where 5,000 people who were imprisoned for minor offences underwent rehabilitation in the community with some conditions.

“Studies conducted following the pilot project show that the recidivism rate dropped to 15 percent,” he said.

He said the Home Ministry also informed that the Prisons Department has also saved RM19 million through the effort.

Anwar welcomes Najib's apology

COMMENT | Najib's apology might be precursor to house arrest

Najib apologises over 1MDB debacle, but maintains innocence