I was surprised to read about the boy being placed under Emergency Ordinance and then under Restricted Residence order. i’m not sure if those aged below 21 can be subjected to these laws or not.

The boy was arrested under suspicion of being involved in ARMED gang theft in schools whereby motorcycles where stolen.

The boy was shifted around few police station and finally sent to Linggi and then Lenggeng.

Now, he’s 18 years old, so is still a minor.

The prosecutors says the reason is to separate him from the “crime mates” so that he can turn a new leaf. I think besides physical separation, need to have further action like counseling, skills training etc., so that the boy can improve himself. Also, I remember reading elsewhere that some of those placed under EO end up expanding their “network” and still continue their criminal activities.

The parents are not well to do, so I’m not sure how they will be able to help him turn a new leaf without support from the state. This where the politicians or government agencies should step in. Need not wait anymore since the case has been highlighted in the media.

If things are left as it is, with no long term solution, I won’t be surprised if the boy ends up in mortuary in few years time (The case where a 16 year old and a 17 year old got shot by retired house owner and police respectively, comes to mind).

The articles from Malaysian Insider and The Star are below.

Teen Jiegandran Panir Selvam who was banished to Negri Sembilan by order of the Home Ministry earlier this year will know if he can go home this December 1.

The Selangor-born who was suspected of being involved in armed gang theft at four schools was arrested by the police last year and later locked up for 60 days under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) while still a minor.

The law is usually reserved for hardcore gangsters.

Jiegandran (picture), who only reached the age of maturity on May 22 this year, was then ordered confined to first Linggi and two months ago, Lenggeng, where he celebrated Deepavali alone.

But the ministry today offered to return the 18-year-old to his parents care.

At the High Court here today, senior federal counsel Najib Zakaria told reporters the Home Ministry has proposed to allow Jiegandran to return home, but will lawfully still be under house arrest for the next two years.

The restricted residence order that forms a part of the EO limits the person’s movement to within a certain radius.

When met in Linggi previously, Jiegandran told The Malaysian Insider he was barred from travelling more than 3km from the district police station, where he was also required to report in person weekly.

“The reason [for the banishment order] was to remove him from the influence of his crime mates, so to speak,” said Najib, after leaving trial judge Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh’s chambers.

The government lawyer added the ministry had come up with the idea after noting that both Jiegandran’s parents were poor and were hard put to support their second son living in a different state.

Jiegandran’s father works as a lorry driver while his mother works as a cook in a company canteen.

The teen and his father are challenging the Home Ministry’s use of the EO on him.

Lawyers for Jiegandran had previously asked for the banished boy to be reunited with his family, Najib said.

But Yohendra Nadarajan, who is part of the father-and-son’s legal team, told The Malaysian Insider that they may still fight on even if the ministry agrees to move Jiegandram’s place of restriction to the latter’s hometown in Beranang, Kajang.

“The ball is now in the deputy minister’s court,” said Yohendra, referring to Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop who had signed the EO order.

“Even if the deputy minister agrees to vary the restricted [residence] order, the parents may want to fight on for his release,” he added.

Yohendra said they would need to speak with Jiegandra and his parents first before deciding the next step.

A teenager is contending that the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 (EO) cannot be applied to detain him as he was a minor when he was arrested for theft.

Senior Federal Counsel Najib Zakaria, however, told reporters yesterday that he was willing to advise the Home Ministry to restrict the boy to his Kajang home.

The boy’s lawyer, Daniel Albert, stated that he would consider the final terms offered by the ministry later in view of the points of law raised in the judicial review application.

The minor, who was then 17, was arrested on Dec 21 last year for alleged theft of a motorcycle.

In the civil action, the teenager and his father, M. Panir Selvam were named as applicants.

The two have named the Deputy Home Minister, Negri Sembilan police chief, Inspector-General of Police and the Malaysian Government as respondents.

In the judicial review application, the applicants stated that the EO cannot be applied to a minor in view of the enactment of the Child Act and the Convention on the Rights of a Child.

They claimed there were significant procedural irregularities that contravened a minor’s fundamental rights under the Federal Cons­titution and the procedural re­­quirements set out under the EO which rendered the minister’s order defective.

In his court papers, the minor stated that he was transferred repeatedly to numerous police stations on the pretext of police investigations being carried out into his alleged involvement in illegal activities.

The applicants were seeking to quash the Deputy Home Minister’s order dated March 11 restricting the residence of the teenager to Linggi in Negri Sembilan made under the EO.

They claimed that subsequently the Deputy Home Minister on Sept 24 ordered that he be restricted to Lenggeng, Negri Sembilan.

Yesterday, High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh set Dec 1 for the minister’s decision on whether to restrict the teenager to his Kajang home.