PUTRAJAYA, April 15 — The government has decided that the Home Ministry gazetted 13 prison academies as detention centres for offenders who violate the movement control order (MCO).
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the move was to solve the problem of prison congestion which has resulted in limited space for social distancing.
“Since we have 13 prison academies we will convert them into detention centres for MCO offenders, thus resolving issues related to social distancing and so forth,” he told the daily MCO press conference here today.
He said though the MCO offenders are detained at the academy, the prison rules and laws would be maintained.
“Being in the prison academy, does not mean luxury food will be served. The usual prison SOP (standard operation procedure) will be adopted,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said in terms of the legalities, these would be discussed further with the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the Attorney-General and the Prison Department.
In the meantime, he said the police have arrested 612 individuals for MCO violation.
“The number includes 590 people who have been remanded and 15 who are on police bail. A total of 337 people have been charged in court for violating the MCO,” he said.
As of yesterday, the cumulative number of arrests for MCO violation stands at 9,702.
— Bernama
