EXPERTS believe that although mathematics scholar Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, who was jailed in the United Kingdom for possessing child pornography, deserves a second chance, it should not be unconditional.
They believe that Nur Fitri, who is a PhD student in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), must be subjected to monitoring and undergo psychological treatment to ensure that he is suited to return to society.
Malaysian Council for Child Welfare (MKKM) president Datuk Dr Raj Abdul Karim said if Nur Fitri wanted to be accepted by society, he must seek treatment to ensure that he did not repeat the offence.
“He committed a heinous crime and had been convicted. This is a serious crime against children and he should accept responsibility for what he had done. He is adult enough to know that what he did was wrong and deserves to be punished.
“The question here is, has he been subjected to any psychoanalysis for his past behaviour?
“Once you’ve committed such an offence, you may have a psychological or silent problem that could manifest later and cause physical harm to children,” she told the New Straits Times.
Dr Raj said it was high time that the government drew up a sex offenders’ registry containing details of convicted sex offenders, including their names, photographs and addresses, which could be made public.
She reminded the university to monitor his activity from time to time.
“Parents who send their children to the university need to be extra careful.
“This is a deep psychological and behavioural problem that none of us should take lightly.
“We must have a proper safeguard so that children won’t be affected by it.
“You don’t want a Malaysian version of Richard Huckle to appear,” she said, referring to one of Britain’s most notorious paedophiles, who was convicted of 71 counts of sexual assault against children while working as a teacher and photographer in Malaysia.
Nur Fitri was a bright mathematics student who received a Mara scholarship to study in London’s Imperial College in 2012. He represented Malaysia in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2011.
However, Malaysians were shocked when he was sentenced to five years’ jail in the UK in 2015 after pleading guilty to keeping more than 30,000 images and videos of child pornography.
British police found his laptop open beside a life-sized child mannequin when they raided his room in Hyde Park, London.
The police had said the files he kept were the “most extreme material” they had come across.
Nur Fitri’s sentence was reduced to nine months and he returned to Malaysia discreetly after serving it.
He recently came under the spotlight after checks showed that he had enrolled in a PhD programme in UKM.
Following the exposé, Malaysians had taken to social media to voice concerns on how he had been allowed to roam free in society.
Dr Fauziah Mohd Saad, who is Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) Counselling Centre director, hoped that Nur Fitri had undergone mental health treatment.
“If there was no mental health examination against the offender and he had only served a short jail sentence, then it’s not enough. It is very disappointing, actually.
“A normal person would not act in such a manner. There must be something wrong with his mental health. It is important for a person like him to undergo psychological treatment.”
Associate Professor Dr P. Sundramoorthy, who is Universiti Sains Malaysia criminologist, said legally, Nur Fitri could not be discriminated against due to his criminal record.
“In Malaysia, there is no law that states that if you have a criminal record, you are not allowed to pursue your studies or live a normal life.
“However, the university has to take precautionary measures to ensure that the individual does not cause harm to its community.”
The university, he said, had to address concerns by parents and manage the situation.
UKM, in a statement, said prior to accepting Nur Fitri as a student, it had taken various considerations into account. The university said it was aware of the charges and punishment meted out against him.
Nur Fitri had enrolled in an undergraduate programme in UKM in 2016 and was chosen due to his “exceptional abilities in his studies”.
“Throughout his stint here, he had displayed his fullest commitment to his studies and never showed questionable behaviour. UKM has not received any complaints against him.
“UKM believes that education can transform individuals by giving them opportunities to improve themselves to achieve success in life.”