‘Compulsory work’ instead of jail time for three-year sentences now

 

While those sentenced to up to three years can now qualify for the compulsory attendance order, the CAO period will be extended from three months to a year. (File pic)

IPOH: Prisoners who are serving sentences of three years and below for minor offences will soon be eligible to be considered for “compulsory work” as an alternative to imprisonment.

Home minister Hamzah Zainudin said the Cabinet has approved the Compulsory Attendance Order (CAO) to be extended from detainees serving sentences of less than one year to three years in a bid to overcome the current problem of overcrowding in prisons.

He said that, at the same time, the government also agreed to increase the CAO period from just three months to one year.

“The Cabinet approved it last week and we will seek the consent of Tuanku (the Yang di-Pertuan Agong) after this,” he said.

“This means that for minor offences, we will do the normal parole. We will also add other assets to ensure that prison officers and personnel can control those who have been sentenced through this CAO,” he told reporters after the Home Ministry’s Malaysia Prihatin Programme today.

According to the Malaysian Prisons Department, the CAO is a punishment under the Offenders Compulsory Attendance Act, 1954.

It is an alternative to imprisonment for those convicted of certain offences to serve out their sentences by doing “compulsory work” without compromising their daily lives.

Last December, Hamzah was quoted as saying that steps to intensify the implementation of the parole system, CAO and Correctional Rehabilitation Centre were among those taken by the government to tackle the problem of overcrowding in prisons.

In another development, he said the Special Task Force on Organised Crime and Special Task Force on Anti-Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism would not be re-established to handle major criminal cases and secret society activities in the country.

He explained that as the police already had sufficient teams, there was no need to add other special action teams for now.

“We feel we can do without them. What’s important is that we need to take action in accordance with existing laws,” he said.

The two teams, established in 2014, were dissolved in 2019 under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government as part of a restructuring of the police force. - FMT