“The move aims to stop attempts by inmates to illegally communicate with outsiders to carry out criminal activities that would be harmful to other inmates,” assistant spokesman of the directorate Capt. Abdullah Nasser Al-Harbi told Arab News on Wednesday.

The directorate is coordinating with the mobile telephone service providers in the Kingdom and the Telecommunication and Information Technology Commission to identify the type of mobile jammers that could be used in jails, he said.

The authorities have to take care that the devices do not interfere with mobile telephone services outside the jails.

The directorate of prisons has already installed the jamming devices in Dammam and Alkhobar’s prisons on a trial basis.

The two jail authorities will submit a report to the directorate on the experiment shortly, Al-Harbi said.

He added that every jail, particularly the large ones, have a telephone cabin for inmates. “With the help of a special card inmates can call their relatives and there is no justification for using cell phones illegally inside the jail premises,” he said.

In another development, the National Committee for the Care of Prisoners, Ex-Prisoners and Their Families announced a scholarship program at the Institute of Prince Ahmad bin Salman for Applied Information in Riyadh.

High school graduates among ex-convicts and their families can join the program. Those who intend to make use of the program should contact the committee’s office. The last date for registration is Aug. 24.