KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 ― Contact between inmates and their families is allowed but only under certain situations and after fulfilling several stipulated conditions.
Malaysian Prisons Department commissioner general Datuk Seri Zulkifli Omar said they could have meetings involving contact by requesting to the Prisons director concerned which were approved after considering needs and not on a continuous basis.
He said this to clarify reports by several local news portals on meetings involving physical contacts between inmates and their families.
"Only selected inmates who meet the recovery conditions, discipline and the (stipulated) period of punishment are allowed to have meetings with contact during the 'Jalinan Kasih' programme organised by the department for certain festive celebrations.
"Meetings involving contacts are not conducted continuously and are not allowed during normal meetings, to rehabilitate the inmates," he said in a statement here, today.
In addition, Zulkifli said inmates or those under selected supervision in terms of rehabilitation progress, period of punishment and others undergoing Community Rehabilatory Programme at army camps, were also allowed to meet with contact with their families at every meeting.
He said the procedure implemented by the department took into account all aspects including the functions of the department, namely, security control and recovery.
"The procedure conducted is based on the Prisons Regulations 2000 and similar measures are also implemented at several prisons abroad," he said.
On July 11, several local news portals reported Parti Keadilan Rakyat state assemblyman N. Surendran as urging Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to allow physical contacts between detainees and their family members during meetings. ― Bernama
