Selangor urges federal govt to hasten moratorium on criminalising suicide

The Selangor state government is urging the federal government to hasten its moratorium on criminalising suicide and repeal attempted suicide as a crime under Section 309 of the Penal Code.

This was said in a written reply by Selangor health exco Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud to matters raised by Subang Jaya state assemblyperson Michelle Ng Mei Sze.

Siti Mariah explained that those who have attempted suicide are often driven to this extreme due to a range of factors.

“The best course of action is not to punish these groups, (and) in turn, provide assistance and counselling services, in accordance with the problem faced.

“Imposing a sentence not only doesn’t help (the individual to) overcome this problem, it (also) does not help to raise public awareness on the importance of caring for one’s mental health,” said Siti Mariah.

The Selangor health exco member said that the proposal to implement the moratorium on Section 309 - while the process to repeal Section 309 is carried out - is among the immediate steps that need to be taken.

According to Siti Mariah, the Health Ministry had sent a memorandum - with regard to the moratorium on criminalising suicide - to the cabinet last November.

In Oct 2021, deputy health minister Aaron Ago Dagang had revealed in the Dewan Rakyat that efforts to decriminalise suicide is moving forward after the Home Ministry and Attorney-General’s Chambers have agreed to it.

As a result of attempted suicide still being classified as a crime under the Penal Code, suicide is an issue that falls under the purview of the police and not the Health Ministry.

Under Section 309 of the Penal Code, attempting suicide is punishable by up to one-year imprisonment, a fine, or both.

Siti Mariah added that the memorandum appeals to the cabinet to approve of an immediate moratorium period, to avoid charges and convictions under Section 309 until its amendment or repeal is implemented in Parliament.

“Therefore, we urge the federal government to expedite this process and to not take too long so that this moratorium is able to be implemented immediately,” she said.

Calls for the decriminalisation of suicide have been making rounds for a long time.

The Health Ministry previously backed a push to decriminalise suicide, with its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin speaking out on mental health. - Mkini