KUALA LUMPUR – During the tabling of Budget 2025, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government will introduce a law to allow house arrest as a form of imprisonment, prompting lawyers to query if this is Putrajaya’s move to give politicians convicted for corruption an exit from prison.
Speaking to Scoop, lawyer Srimurugan Alagan said the announcement gives the public a perception that the proposal is to accommodate former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s claims that his sentence can be commuted to house arrest.
“Surprisingly, the government is going through with this without consulting stakeholders, especially lawyers,” Srimurugan said.
Adding further, Srimurugan pointed out that such a form of punishment may not be suitable for Malaysia, given that the government would have to invest in a monitoring system to supervise convicts.
The lawyer also mentioned that the proposal was nothing more than “hot air”, given Anwar failed to detail what the new law would entail.
“Until details are put forward, the proposal remains a proposal,” Srimurugan said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Sachpreetaj Singh took a different view, suggesting that this alternate form of punishment can be a welcome move if used as a penalty for minor offences.
However, whether the proposal could be used to benefit Najib, Sachpreetaj suggested it would depend on the scope and nature of the law.
“It remains to be seen if the proposal would apply to crimes like the ones our former prime minister committed.
“I would imagine that for policy reasons, the population would not be happy if such things are allowed,” Sachpreetaj said when contacted.
Sharing a similar opinion, lawyer Kuhan Manokaran pointed out that house arrests could ease Malaysia’s overcrowded prison population, which in turn reduces the expenditure costs of the Prisons Department.
However, given that house arrests usually entail the use of electronic monitoring devices, Kuhan questioned if the government can enforce such sentences in rural areas.
“If you recall, during the pandemic a girl named Veneonah Mosibin in Sabah had to climb a tree just to get internet and do her homework.
“So how would electronic monitoring devices work in these areas,” Kuhan told Scoop.
Further, while it remains uncertain what the proposed law entails, Kuhan explained that new laws usually apply retrospectively and may not apply to Najib’s current imprisonment sentence.
Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan also agreed that the house arrest punishment would improve conditions in Malaysian prisons, and noted that this form of sentence is a norm in other countries.
“Convicts under house arrest would have to wear an ankle monitor to allow them to be monitored by authorities remotely.
“They would be allowed to meet their probation officer, go to their house of worship and even work.
“What they won’t be allowed to do is suddenly take a detour to a pub or the cinema,” Rajesh explained.
On Najib, Rajesh mentioned that Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution had suggested a similar form of punishment in March and stated that it would only apply to offenders with less than a four-year jail sentence.
“Based on what they do in other countries, the inmates who were allowed to go home are those who committed non-violent crimes.
“Najib is a white-collar criminal. So while we don’t know how the proposed law would look like, it could be possible that Najib becomes eligible for this punishment,” Rajesh added.
Earlier, when tabling Budget 2025 in Parliament today, Anwar said that the government is to set new legislation allowing home detention as an alternative punishment for certain offences.
Anwar said that under the proposed law, offenders will have to remain at a designated location deemed suitable by authorities, such as a residential home, care centre or worker dormitories for the duration of their sentence.
In March, Saifuddin said that the government had agreed in principle to implement the licensed release of prisoners through home detention for prisoners serving jail sentences of four years and below.
Noting that the move is part of an effort to reduce overcrowding in prisons, Saifuddin said that his ministry would examine whether amending existing laws would be sufficient, or if there was a need to enact a new law under the authority of the Prisons Department director-general or the Home Ministry.
Saifuddin later refuted claims that the suggested introduction of home detention was meant to facilitate house arrest for the incarcerated Najib.
Najib has been serving his sentence in Kajang Prison since August 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He filed a petition for a royal pardon on September 2, 2022, resulting in the Pardons Board halving his prison sentence from 12 years to six, and reducing the fine from RM210 million to RM50 million. – October 18, 2024