Malaysia offers to share parole system experience, expertise

CYBERJAYA: Malaysia has offered to share the experience and expertise of its successful parole system with other countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said yesterday countries such as Canada, Japan and Poland had shown interest in the system that had reduced the rate of recidivism from 9.03 percent to 0.48 percent over the 10 years of its implementation in Malaysia.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, said some of the interested countries had sent their officers to study the implementation of the parole system by the Prisons Department.

“The parole system, introduced in 2008, has not only reduced the rate of recidivism but also slashed the cost of handling convicts in prisons.

“The irony is that those interested to learn from us are those from whom we had learned from in the beginning and who had implemented the parole system earlier,” he said at a press conference after the recording of the ‘Orang Diparol’ talk show at the Al-Hijrah studio here.

Ahmad Zahid said the Home Ministry conducted a study of the parole systems in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in 1994 and adapted these systems to the Malaysian situation for implementation in 2008.

Since then, he said, 19,637 prisoners had undergone the parole process and a majority of them resumed normal life and were accepted into society.

Ahmad Zahid said one of the factors that contributed to the success of the parole system was the emphasis on the aspect of religion including the setting up of Tahfiz centres in certain prisons such as in Kluang, Johor; Bentong, Pahang; and Padang Terap, Kedah, an approach that facilitated the prisoners when they were on parole.

“The prisoners were also given ample opportunities to further their studies, up to doctorate level, thus placing them at a certain level in society,” he said.

The ‘Orang Diparol’ talk show, a 16-series programme produced with the collaboration of the Home Ministry, will be broadcast every Friday beginning April 13.