Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Director of Prisons in Jeddah Gen. Manie Bin Abdullah Al-Otaibi has stressed the keenness of the directorate to develop methods of rehabilitating inmates by providing them with various training and educational programs during the period of their sentences. He said the programs are being carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Education represented by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation.

As part of these successful efforts, 110 inmates have been absorbed into different majors in plumbing, carpentry, cooling and air conditioning, mobile phone maintenance, construction electricity, engines and vehicles, and sewing, Al-Watan newspaper reported.

Al-Otaibi said the inmates go through a series of professional training and rehabilitation programs to occupy their free time with things that would benefit them. They also get qualified to get suitable work in the community when they leave the prison. “They are given certificates of technical education and vocational training, without mentioning their place of training as prison,” he said.

“Prisons participate in supporting works of art and craft by inmates during national celebrations to encourage and motivate them to actively return to their communities,” Al-Otaibi said.

Mohamed Al-Zahrani, secretary-general of Tarahum, the committee for supporting prisoners and their families, said the charity is seeking to assign qualified persons who are released from jail to jobs that suit their qualifications in coordination with the private sector institutions, taking advantage of the decision of the minister of labor and social development to count prisoners who work in factories inside prisons or released prisoners employed by private institutions twice in the Nitaqat Saudization program.

“This has encouraged the private sector to give more opportunities to people who are freed from jail,” Al-Zahrani said.