MALAYSIAN BEER-DRINKING MODEL ESCAPES CANING
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a mother of two, received a letter Wednesday from the Pahang state Islamic department informing her that the state's sultan has decided to spare her the caning, her lawyer, Adham Jamalullail, said Thursday.The order is likely to cool down a fiery debate over whether Islamic laws should intrude into people's private lives in this Muslim-majority country.
Source: AP
- Many people had condemned the punishment, saying it shows conservative Islamists are gaining influence over the justice system.
- Kartika, a former model and nurse, was sentenced last July. Had the punishment been carried out at the time, she would have been the first woman to be caned in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 28 million people are Muslims.
- She pleaded guilty and did not appeal her sentence, but the punishment was halted at the last minute following an uproar in the media and among rights activists.
- Three other Muslim women were caned this year for having sex out of wedlock, becoming the first Muslim women to be caned. Their cases did not draw as much attention because the caning was kept a secret until after it was done.
- Subsequently, the women themselves appeared before local media and said they deserved the punishment.
- Adham told The Associated Press that "as a substitution for the caning, the sultan has ordered Kartika to perform community service for three weeks."
- Sultan Ahmad Shah is the guardian of Islam in the state, and its titular head. Most of Malaysia's 13 states are ruled by sultans who usually play a ceremonial role in governance but have the power to rule in Islamic matters.
- Kartika's father Shukarno Abdul Muttalib said she has been told to report to the Islamic department early Friday. "We will abide by the order Kartika will go on with her life," he said.
- Kartika was sentenced in July last year to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for drinking beer in December 2007 at a beach resort in violation of Islamic laws.
- Officials had said the caning would be very different to the corporal punishment administered on male criminals under secular civil laws. Drug offenders, kidnappers and others are caned with a thick rattan stick on bare buttocks that break the skin and leave lifelong scars.
- Kartika's punishment under Islamic laws would have been delivered with a thin cane on the back with her clothes on.
- The sultan's commutation of the sentence followed Kartika's meeting with the Pahang crown prince last month.
- Malaysia follows a dual-track justice system. Shariah laws apply to Muslims in all personal matters. Non-Muslims - Chinese, Indians, Sikhs and other minorities - are covered by civil laws, and are free to drink.
- Only three states in Malaysia - Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan - impose caning for drinking alcohol. In the other 10 states it is punishable by a fine.
CANING SENTENCE IMPOSED ON KARTIKA PUT ON HOLD
KUANTAN, Malaysia - The caning sentence imposed on part-time model Sari Dewi Shukarno still has not been carried out following syubahah (doubt) in the implementation.
Source: Bernama
- Pahang Religious Affairs Committee Chairman Datuk Mohamad Sahfri Ab Aziz said they must be careful when carrying out the punishement, especially on female offenders.
- "In our 52 years of independence, we have not had a female caner," he said replying to a supplementary question from Syed Mohammed Tuan Lonnik (PAS-Beserah) regarding obstruction in carrying out the sentence on Kartika at the 12th Pahang state assembly, here today.
- Mohamad Sahfri said, however, a similar punishment had been carried out for the same offence on an Indonesian man, whereby he received six strokes of the cane at the Penor Prison, here yesterday.
- He said Pahang was among the states that provided for the fine, prison and caning sentences for the offence of consuming alcohol.
- Kartika, 32, was fined RM5,000 and sentenced to be caned six times by the Kuantan Syariah High Court on July 20 after she confessed to violating Islamic laws by drinking beer in a hotel lobby in Cherating on July 11 last year.
- Replying to Syed Mohammed's original question that the caning sentence did not follow the Islamic law, Mohamad Sahfri said it complied with regulations approved by the Pahang state assembly and jurisdiction allocated by the Federal Constitution through the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965.
- He said although the Islamic laws fixed between 40 to 80 canings for alcohol consumption which is recognised as a hudud offence, the Syariah Court had no jurisdiction to impose hudud sentences.
MALAYSIAN PM STEP IN OVER KARTIKA ROW
Malaysian PM, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has advised part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to appeal against her caning sentence by the Syariah Court for consuming beer instead of accepting the punishment willingly.
Courtesy: The malaysian Insider
- The prime minister’s remarks today appear to suggest he has been forced to wade in over the issue because his government is concerned that it has taken a life of its own with daily reports in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other foreign publications.
- Yesterday, religious authorities gave a last-minute, temporary reprieve in a case that has stirred passions over the increasingly strict enforcement of Islamic law in recent years.
- Kartika was detained by prison authorities yesterday but was then released.
- Officials say the caning would be carried out after Ramadan. It will be the first caning for a woman under Islamic laws.
- The case has been criticised by more liberal Muslims and also non-Muslims who fear Malaysia is drifting from its secular traditions.
- Najib’s administration appears to be concerned with the kind of message the sentence sends out to the world as Malaysia has portrayed itself as a model for a moderate and progressive Muslim country.
- “I think the affected party should appeal to the state authorities and not be so willing to accept the punishment,” Najib told reporters.
- He also expressed confidence that the religious authorities would be considerate.
- “There is room for appeal and the state authorities are always considerate on this matter.” Najib said the federal government could not and would not interfere in the administration of Islamic law.
- But he seemed to strongly suggest that the government was working to avoid the sentence from being carried out. “I believe the authorities concern are sensitive on this matter and realise the implication of this case,” he said.
- Kartika was fined RM5,000 and sentenced to six strokes of the cane for drinking beer at a hotel in Najib's home state of Pahang.
- Legal experts have criticised the caning as it could open up the state government to legal action.
CANING OF MSIAN'S WOMAN WHO DRANK BEER POSPONDED
Malaysia abruptly granted a Ramadan reprieve to the first Muslim Malay woman to be sentenced to caning for drinking beer, but insisted Monday the thrashing would still take place after the Islamic holy month of fasting.
Source: AP
- Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, had been en route to a women's prison for the caning when Islamic officials who took her into custody drove her back home and released her.
- Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a state legislator in charge of religious affairs, later said the Attorney General's office advised that the caning should be delayed for compassionate reasons until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began Saturday.
- Amnesty International condemned the sentence, and many critics had said the caning would harm Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim-majority country.
- Kartika was arrested in a raid for drinking beer at a hotel lounge in December 2007 and accused of breaching Malaysia's Shariah law, which forbids Muslims from consuming alcohol.
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