NEWS UPDATES 23 Nov-28 Nov 2019 Private prisons to cut overcrowding NATION Saturday, 23 Nov 2019 By JO TIMBUONG KAJANG: The government is mulling adopting the privately-managed prison concept to solve the overcrowding problem in jails. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman says if the concept proves to be a feasible solution, the prisons are likely to house low-to-medium risk inmates. He said Malaysia’s 38 prisons could only hold about 52,000 inmates. “The jails are now at 40% overcapacity. “Hopefully, this (concept) would help minimise overcrowding in our jails as well as the stress on government coffers, ” he said when closing the Prison Reform Colloquium at the Prisons Department Headquarters here. Mohd Azis said he had seen the operation of privately-managed prisons during a recent working trip to Britain. “I have tasked the Prisons Department with looking into the feasibility of having a similar concept in the country. “Maintaining and managing prisons is expensive as we also need to consider operational costs as well as the welfare of both staff members and inmates, ” he said. 1 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES Mohd Azis said the government had implemented the parole and Compulsory Attendance Order systems as ways to reduce overcrowding in prisons. He also said that upgrading works of the Seremban, Pengkalan Chepa and Batu Gajah prisons would start next year to meet new standards. “These prisons are among the six that are still using the ‘bucket system’ for sanitation. “Many Members of Parliament have voiced their concern about upgrading the facilities in these prisons and there is progress now. “The ministry hopes to be allocated with funds to upgrade three others in Taiping, Muar and Penang. “Those prison buildings are very old and cannot be safely repaired, so we will recommend the government to consider rebuilding these prisons, ” he said. Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/11/23/private-prisons-to-cut- overcrowding#3XTVh95wMcrPKpLI.99 Malaysian hanged in Singapore for drug trafficking NATION Saturday, 23 Nov 2019 SINGAPORE: A Malaysian, Abd Helmi Ab Halim, was hanged at Changi Prison after having been convicted of drug trafficking in 2017. The execution that took place yesterday and was confirmed by Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) advisor, N. Surendran. Abd Helmi, who was 36, was arrested on April 9,2015, and was sentenced to death for trafficking in 16.56g of diamorphine (pure heroin) on March 24,2017. 2 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES Abd Helmi’s plea for clemency was rejected in July. His counsel, Mohamed Muzammil Mohamed, said Abd Helmi had asked him to help bring his remains home. “There is a plan to bring his remains to his kampung in Johor. But nobody from the family has contacted me, ” he said. Three days ago, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, urged Singapore to show mercy to Abd Helmi, saying it is unjust and disproportionate for drug mules to be sent to the gallows. “Justice must be tempered with mercy and I implore Singapore to do so, ” he said adding that to eradicate drug trafficking, it is the kingpins who must face the full brunt of the law. Meanwhile, Surendran said he was appalled that Abd Helmi was executed despite the intervention and reasonable pleas from the Malaysian government. In a joint statement from Singapore’s Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Home Affairs, it said Abd Helmi’s petition to the (Singapore) President for clemency was unsuccessful. “He was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel throughout the process. “The amount of diamorphine trafficked was equivalent to about 1,380 straws of heroin, sufficient to feed the addiction of close to 200 abusers for a week. “Singapore’s laws apply equally to all, regardless whether the offender is Singaporean or a foreigner. “Foreigners who choose to break our laws must be prepared to be subject to them and cannot expect any differentiated treatment.” https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/11/23/malaysian-hanged-in-singapore-for-drug-- trafficking 3 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES Jan 10 date for re-mention of case against 10 prison wardens accused of causing inmate’s death NATION Monday, 25 Nov 2019 12:30 PM MYT By STEPHANIE LEE image: https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2019/11/25/403303.jpg KOTA KINABALU: Ten prison wardens who were accused of causing the death of an inmate on Oct 4 this year will have their case re-mentioned on Jan 10. The case was supposed to be re-mentioned on Monday (Nov 25) but Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Khairuddin Idris asked for another date as the chemist and forensics reports were not complete. Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/11/25/jan-10-date-for-re-mention-of- case-against-10-prison-wardens-accused-of-causing-inmates-death#aVWxkMuH1J4J1oc0.99 4 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES Doctors fear Assange 'could die' in UK jail WORLD Monday, 25 Nov 2019 2:04 PM MYT LONDON (Nov 25): More than 60 doctors wrote an open letter published on Monday saying they feared Julian Assange's health was so bad that the WikiLeaks founder could die inside a top-security British jail. The 48-year-old Australian is still fighting a US bid to extradite him from Britain on charges filed under the Espionage Act that could see him given a sentence of up to 175 years in a US prison. They based their assessment on "harrowing eyewitness accounts" of his Oct 21 court appearance in London and a Nov 1 report by Nils Melzer, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture. Assange used WikiLeaks to publish classified military and diplomatic files in 2010 about US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq that proved highly embarrassing to the US government. - AFP Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2019/11/25/doctors-fear-assange-039could- die039-in-uk-jail#96Sz1pTqhD0TYk1l.99 5 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES Chinese woman jailed eight months for trespass at Trump resort: report WORLD Tuesday, 26 Nov 2019 9:45 AM MYT MIAMI (AFP) - A Chinese woman who stirred fears of espionage when she entered President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort carrying multiple mobile phones and a malware-spiked thumb drive was sentenced to eight months in prison ON Monday, US media reported. Zhang Yujing, 33, was arrested on March 30 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was on one of his frequent visits. She was found guilty of trespassing and lying in September. On Monday, a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida sentenced her to eight months in prison, according to the Miami Herald. The judge also ordered that Zhang be turned over to immigration officials for deportation upon her release. Zhang, who has been jailed since her arrest, received eight months' credit for her time already spent in prison and only has about one more week to serve, the Herald added. The Shanghai native was arrested after first presenting herself as a Mar-a-Lago club member and saying she was headed to the pool -- despite not having a swimsuit. Zhang then claimed to be attending a non-existent Chinese-American friendship event. She carried two passports from the People's Republic of China, according to the US Secret Service, which arrested her. Secret Service agents at the scene found four cell phones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive that "contained malicious software," according to charging documents. 6 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES The case raised a scare amid a series of Chinese charged in the US in recent years for alleged spying and commercial secrets theft. Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2019/11/26/chinese-woman-jailed- eight-months-for-trespass-at-trump-resort-report#331zzHTkpV2SVLHF.99 Would you pay to spend a night in jail? Now you can, at this former German prison EUROPE Wednesday, 27 Nov 2019 By AGENCY image: https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2019/11/25/398358.jpeg Gallery: Germany's Fuerstenau Prison is now a hotel Hotel guest Michelle Ferrari can be seen through a peephole in a cell of a former official prison in north- western Germany. Photo: Friso Gentsch/dpa The small cells are anything but luxurious, but that doesn’t seem to be putting off visitors to Fuerstenau Prison. 7 Info shared by: Perpustakaan Maktab Penjara Malaysia (MPM) NEWS UPDATES Since the prison in the north-western German town of Fuerstenau reopened in May 2019 as a hotel, dozens of guests, including a freshly married couple, have voluntarily slept in the hotel’s former prison cells. Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/travel/2019/11/27/you-can-now-pay-to-spend-a- night-in-jail#DEQE2RqKi2sAgqH4.99 >> GLOBAL > > Tahanan Palestin meninggal di penjara Israel TERJEMAHAN SINAR HARIAN | | 26 November 2019 Pihak berkuasa Israel menolak permintaan Abu Diyak untuk menghabiskan sisa hidupnya bersama ibunya. - Foto AFP RAMALLAH - Sorang tahanan Palestin di penjara Israel dilaporkan meninggal dunia akibat kanser, menurut pegawai Palestin hari ini. Agensi berita Wafa melaporkan tahanan dikenali sebagai Sami Abu Diyak, 36, itu menderita barah terminal dan pihak berkuasa Israel turut menolak pembebasan atas dasar belas kasihan untuk dia bersama keluarganya. "Dia mahu menghabiskan sisa akhir hidupnya bersama ibunya dan mati dalam dakapan wanita itu," lapor Wafa memetik mesej terakhir Abu Diyak.