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KOTA KINABALU – Sixteen prisoners from the Kota Kinabalu Central Prison will be allowed to return home in conjunction with the Hari Raya Licensed Prisoners’ Release Ihsan Madani programme announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.
According to prison facility deputy director Sa’ad Bantalani, the move was part of the prison’s efforts to deal with overcrowding and at the same time reduce recidivism stemming from the programme which he described “as very, very effective”.
Sa’ad told reporters that the present number of inmates at the Kota Kinabalu Central Prison is worrying as there are now 2,567 prisoners cooped in the 1,300-capacity prison facility.
“The number of inmates released under the same programme is done daily. Not only is this programme able to reduce the cost of running this prison facility, but it was also able to reduce recidivists.
“This concept has been very, very successful. The recidivism rate for those who fully served their prison term stood at 18.6% compared to the recidivists who undergo the release programme,” he said.
Fifteen men and a woman were selected in the first Licensed Prisoners’ Release initiative held at all prisons nationwide in conjunction with the Hari Raya celebrations.
Overall, 38 prisoners have been selected for the programme today, with 16 from the Kota Kinabalu Central Prison, one from the Kota Kinabalu Women Prison, 10 from Tawau, five from Sandakan and six from the Labuan Correctional Centre.
Most of them were convicted for various drug offences, serving a prison term of less than a year and having obtained recommendations from their rehabilitation officers as part of the requirements to be eligible for the programme.
At present, Sabah has logged the second-highest number of inmates in the country obtaining their release licence, with a total of 415 prisoners receiving their release licences since January this year. – The Vibes, April 19, 2023
