Samy wants ‘crime college’ closed
(Free Malaysia Today) – The MIC wants the government to close down the Simpang Renggam detention camp in Johor, saying that it has become a breeding ground for criminals, especially among Indians, instead of rehabilitating them.
“Petty criminals who are sent there graduate to become hardcore criminals,” party president S. Samy Vellu told reporters after opening an MIC youth workshop on crime prevention among Indian youths here.
To a question, Samy said he was aware that several non-governmental organisations also wanted the camp to be closed.
The Simpang Renggam facility, built in 1986, houses those held under the Emergency Ordinance and the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985, as well as convicts and remand prisoners.
Samy, who visited the camp in 2007 as the then works minister, said the camp was overcrowded and inmates were living in “filthy conditions”.
It was reported that the camp could only accommodate 2,000 but now had more than 4,000 inmates.
