ANTI-STALKING laws will be a reality soon once the cabinet approves amendments to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code which will then be tabled in Parliament, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said.

The drafts will be brought to cabinet in December, said the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law).

“After tabling to the cabinet in December, the amendments will then be tabled in Parliament once the cabinet has given its approval.

“Efforts to make stalking a crime began in 2019 with an anti-stalking committee to study the matter, and a draft of the amendments have been worked on since early 2020.

“This government is committed to make stalking a crime in Malaysia,” Mas Ermieyati said in a statement today.

In addition to presenting the draft to the cabinet, she said she would also be meeting MPs, government agencies and civil society groups to explain the amendments.

Mas Ermieyati said she had also informed women’s rights groups about plans to table the amendments to the cabinet this December in a meeting yesterday.

Among those at the meeting were representatives from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, the police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Malaysian Bar and the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) among other women’s groups

“The meeting yesterday also heard the testimonies of three people who have been victims of stalking and who had no legal redress because of the gaps in existing laws. WAO also presented a memorandum calling for anti-stalking laws that was signed by 52 groups and a petition supported by over 8,500 people,” Mas Ermieyati said. – November 3, 2021.