The Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs will be designating 13 correctional academies to be used as temporary detention centers. These will be used to detain those arrested for defying the Movement Control Order (MCO), as well as other related offences.
Senior Defence Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yakoob made the announcement earlier during his daily address. According to the announcement, the move was made to solve the issue of overcrowding in prisons. This will also ensure social distancing will still be possible for those detained. As of the announcement, the standard operating procedures of the Malaysian Prison Department will be applied at these detention centres.
Awas pihak yang ingkar! Pusat akademi penjara, mampu atasi masalah kesesakan penjara. Tiada yang berbeza , peraturan dan undang-undangnya sama saja dengan penjara biasa.#MinDefMalaysia#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/LThfMxh9yE
— MINDEF Malaysia (@MINDEFMalaysia) April 15, 2020
The number of cumulative arrests due to MCO defiance is at 9702 as of 14 April, a jump of over 600 since the day before. The Malaysian government also announced yesterday that those not obeying the MCO will be arrested immediately. This is after the RM1000 fine issued before was deemed too light.
With the MCO going on for nearly a month, it’s understandable that being home for so long is getting to some of us. But we should still stay home, and safe. The sooner this whole thing blows over, the sooner we’ll be let out of our own door.
(Source: MINDEF Malaysia / Twitter, RTM / Facebook. Image: Correctional Academy of Malaysia / Facebook)
