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IPOH (Bernama): Cabinet approved the Compulsory Assistance Order (CAO) that will be extended to detainees serving sentences of up to three years in an attempt to overcome the problem of prison overcrowding.
Interior Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the government also agreed to increase the CAO’s term from three months to one year.
“We approved it (at the cabinet level) last week and, InsyaAllah, we will seek the consent of Tuanku (the Yang di-Pertuan Agong) after this.
“Under the Compulsory Attendance for Offenders Act of 1954, the CAO is only for those serving sentences of one year or less, but this time I have asked that offenders serving sentences of three years or less also be included in the CAO.
“This means that for minor offenses that we can deal with we will do normal probation. We will also add other assets to ensure that prison officials and staff can control those who have been convicted through this CAO,” he told reporters after the Malaysia Prihatin Program of the Ministry of the Interior on Friday (March 19).
According to the Department of Prisons, CAO is a punishment enshrined in Malaysian law under the Compulsory Attendance for Offenders Act 1954.
It is an alternative to incarceration for those convicted of certain crimes to serve their sentences by doing “compulsory work” without compromising their daily life.
Last December, Hamzah was quoted as saying that steps to step up the implementation of the probation system, the CAO and the Correctional Rehabilitation Center were among those the government took to address the problem of prison overcrowding.
In another development, he said that the Special Task Force on Organized Crime (STAFOC) and the Task Force Against Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism (STAGG) would not be re-established to handle major criminal cases and activities of the secret society in the country.
He explained that since the police already had enough equipment, there was no need to add other special action teams for now.
“We believe that we can do without STAFOC and STAGG. The important thing is that we must act in accordance with existing laws,” he said.
The two teams, established in 2014, were dissolved in 2019 under the Pakatan Harapan government as part of a restructuring of the police. – Bernama
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