Seven-day release for five until Dec
SIBU: Five inmates at the Sibu Central Prison have been granted a seven-day licensed prisoner release (PBSL) until Dec 30.
The prison director Azhar Ahmad said yesterday that the programme was one of the ways of rehabilitating prisoners through the involvement of the community, especially their family members.
“The objective of the programme is to enable the prisoners to be with their family, to find a job or to plan for their future before they are released and more importantly, for them to celebrate Christmas with their families this year.
“These prisoners will be brought home by their family members and this will indirectly help them rebuild family relationships after not seeing each other for a long time,” he told reporters at the programme.
He said the release was granted under Section 43 of the Prisons Act 1995 for eligible prisoners who fulfilled the conditions prescribed.
Among the conditions stipulated is that the prisoner must have served his or her jail sentence of not less than four years and have a remaining sentence of less than a year.
“These prisoners are granted temporary release licenses based on the applications from their family members and not from the prisoners themselves,” he emphasised.
“Before the applications are accepted, there must be recommendations from prison rehabilitation officers, psychologists, doctors and the prisoners must have good track records. Once all these are met, we will submit the applications to the department director general for approval,” he said.
According to Azhar, the prisoners will return again on December 30 to serve the balance of of their sentence.
He added that during the interim release period, prisoners would be monitored by parole officers to ensure that the regulations under the PBSL programme were complied with.
A prisoner, Fit, 30 (not the real name) who got the licensed release was grateful to be given the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with his family this year.
“I really miss my mum’s cooking, especially her ‘rendang’ and ‘ketupat’. I will make sure I will spend the seven days with the whole family,” she said.
Another inmate, Aisyah, 33, couldn’t wait to meet her son. She was also eagerly anxious to cook for his son a variety of dishes, which she learned during her six years in prison.
