Trials by video link in K-P make advance

Work in progress to connect more prisons with courts via video link, meeting told

PESHAWAR:

Prisons in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) will be connected with courts via video link to enable prisoner trials by distant hearings.

This was revealed during a meeting chaired by K-P Caretaker Minister for Housing and Prisons Shafiullah Khan.

He was presiding over a meeting of prison officials here on Wednesday in which Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Khushal Khan and IG Prisons Saadat Hussain were in attendance.

During the meeting, the minister was briefed on the Prison Management Information System. He was informed that under this, a digitized system has been introduced in 14 prisons of seven districts while work on adding other prisons in this system was underway.

The minister was told that work has been started to link seven prisons of the province with anti-terrorism courts through video connection.

It may be noted that in many advanced countries, nearly every criminal court facilitates video appearances by defendants from prison, and most prisons have video links to courts.

The meeting also discussed the establishment of prisons in six newly merged districts.

The minister was further informed that short-, mid-, and long-term strategy was being formulated for bringing reforms in the prison sector.

The meeting was briefed on the rules and regulations of the prisons and told that the inmates were being provided religious and skills education inside the prisons.

The minister assured that the government would provide all possible assistance to the authorities for introducing reforms in prisons.

He ordered cleanliness in prisons across the province, including in the newly-merged districts.

He said the provision of basic facilities of life to the inmates must be ensured, adding that legal action should be initiated against prison officials for showing negligence while on duty.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2023.