Prisons dept denies claims prison life depends on money, influence

Prisons department senior director of prison policy Rosidek Musa said the claim was untrue as it has standard operating procedures (SOPs) to handle misconduct or negative incidents among inmates, Bernama reported.

“The claim is untrue. In the prison system, we focus on rehabilitation programmes and address negative occurrences.

“We admit certain incidents may happen, but not to the extent alleged.

“Many released from prison succeed in building new lives, so why focus on the negative aspects?” he said after the closing ceremony of the 2026 prisons department bookathon programme at Pengkalan Chepa prison in Kota Bharu today.

Earlier, Yasin claimed during an episode of the AididitMyWay podcast that a hierarchy existed among inmates, including groups referred to as “boss” and “taiko”, while also alleging that drugs could be smuggled into prison if a person possessed money and influence.

Rosidek said the department tightens its SOPs and reviews them step by step every year.

He said overcrowding remained an issue at Pengkalan Chepa prison and steps are being taken to solve this.

The bookathon programme received a donation of 10,000 books for inmates nationwide, excluding Sabah and Sarawak.