Those under house arrest to have monitoring devices, minister says

Those undergoing house arrest will be fitted with a monitoring device under the House Arrest Bill, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament next year.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was reported as saying by Kosmo! that this is to keep track of the whereabouts of those placed under house arrest.

“There are no provisions under the current laws that allow convicts to be placed at home.

“The bill, which will be tabled in Parliament next year, will help the government address overcrowding in prisons throughout the country,” he said.

The home minister noted that as of Nov 14, Malaysian prisons held 86,766 prisoners, beyond their capacity of 74,146.

If the proposed law is passed, Saifuddin said, it will be used for remanded individuals.

“About 28,000 remand detainees are currently held in prison while their cases are tried. These are the people who would be undergoing house arrest,” he said.

He reiterated that those involved in serious crimes such as rape, murder, and drug crimes would not qualify for house arrest.

The government has denied that the house arrest law was being drafted to benefit former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is serving a six-year jail term over the SRC International corruption case.

Najib also filed a court application in April over the alleged existence of an addendum to his royal pardon which saw his jail term and fine reduced from 12 to six years and from RM210 million to RM50 million.

He claimed the addendum was issued by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong to allow him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 3 dismissed Najib’s legal action. Judge Amarjeet Singh ruled that the affidavits claiming the existence of the royal addendum amounted to mere hearsay.

Najib is appealing the decision.

'Court affirmed addendum hearsay, Najib unqualified for house arrest'

'House arrest needed as prisons overcrowded'