Prisoners get new blue uniforms

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: The General Directorate of Prisons has launched a new uniform for inmates at all the Kingdom's correctional facilities which consists of a blue shirt and pants.
This took place during the opening of the new Jeddah Rehabilitation Prison in north Jeddah and the ninth annual meeting of the heads of the National Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners and their Families.
Those present included the Minister of Social Affairs Majed Al-Qassabi and Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Al-Hmazi head of the directorate a local publication reported recently.
Al-Hmazi said the new uniform is in line with directives from the state leadership and part of broader efforts to develop prison facilities in the Kingdom.
He said the directorate is involved in a variety of partnerships with civil society organizations and other actors on different programs including the sale and promotion of products by men and women prisoners at public events and markets. The income is used for their benefit he said.
He said all the Kingdom's prisons have top security and legal systems and management. This includes use of modern technologies and surveillance systems to ensure the safety of prisoners in line with Islamic and other human rights principles.
Al-Hmazi said the Kingdom has its own criteria for classifying prisoners because there is no globally agreed-upon classification. 'Each country classifies inmates according to its own systems and regulations. Saudi Arabia does so according to the type of cases while other countries may classify prisoners based on other measures including previous jail time and the violent nature of offenses' he said.