Kartika Caning Changed To Community Service By Sultan

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was to be caned with six strokes on Thursday, April 1, 2010. However there's not caning. On Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno received a letter from the Sultan of Pahang commuting caning sentence to 3 weeks community service at the children's home in Pahang from April 2.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno is a Malaysian citizen married to a Singaporean. They work and live in Singapore. On July 11, 2008 Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno and her husband were caught drinking alcohol at a popular Cherating resort in Pahang.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno then charged at the Kuantan Syariah High Court. She pleaded guilty, was fined RM5, 000 and given six strokes of the cane. She paid a fine, and all ready to accept her  caning punishment.

Until the case of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, Muslim women given the  caning sentences have always appeal, and almost as a matter of routine, such sentences would be replaced with another penalty when the appeal is heard.

However, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno has refused to appeal against the punishment. Besides, she wants the punishment to be carried out quickly and in public to serve as a warning to other Muslim women not to repeat the offense. Suddenly, Malaysia face the real prospect of caning a Muslim woman for the first time in the history of the nation.

Some groups, including those within the Malaysian Government felt that the canning sentence was too harsh, especially since Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno  pleaded guilty.

Then there are others who argue that the Syariah Law and Syariah Court must be respected but others questioning whether it is legally allowed to cane a woman when the Civil Code prohibits it.

Another legal aspect, caning sentence only carried out by prison authorities against detainees but Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno have never been imprisoned.

So caning at Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, scheduled for last August, was postponed on the grounds that it was not appropriate  during the month of Ramadan last year.

All this waiting has caused untold stress for Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno. While she remained in Malaysia to wait for her  sentence, her husband must return to Singapore to work. Long separation eventually cause damage to marriage. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno found herself divorced from her husband.

On Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno requested, and was granted royal audience with the crown prince of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, who is also chairman of the board of the state religion.

At the meeting, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno not apply for caning sentence. Instead she asked  it to be accelerated to reduce pressure in her life. And now, the Sultan of Pahang has acted to commute caning at Kartika Sari Dewi Shukanor to a period of community service.

 

With a caning commuting at Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, the Sultan of Pahang has shown that he is as a Sultan, has the power to vary the penalty imposed by the Syariah High Court, had objected to the people who say that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno can not be beaten by prison authorities because she was never sentenced to prison and pacify those who feel that the canning sentence on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno it too hard.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno gets temporary reprieve on caning sentence

A Malaysian state declared it would not carry out a caning sentence on a model found guilty of drinking beer until after the holy month of Ramadan

The muslim model sentenced to be caned for drinking beer won a surprise reprieve when religious officials delayed her punishment until after the fasting month of Ramadan.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was sentenced by a religious court on July 2009 to six strokes, making her the first woman to face caning under Islamic law in Malaysia, a moderate Muslim-majority country.

She was taken into custody in northern Perak state by religious officials who were to transport her to a jail outside Kuala Lumpur where the sentence was to be carried out.

The mother-of-two has stared down religious authorities by saying she is ready to be caned, refusing to appeal against her sentence, and challenging them to cane her in public.

Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a legislator from Pahang in charge of religious affairs, said the punishment had been suspended on the order of the Attorney-General until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week.

But a senior government official suggested the reprieve could be a step towards burying the whole affair.
The syriah court will  revise the sentence and there are also laws that allow the sultan to pardon her.

Human rights group Amnesty International has urged Malaysia to abolish the "cruel and degrading punishment" and critics have said the case threatens to damage Malaysia's international standing.

Kartika's father Shukarno Mutalib, 60, reacted angrily to the about-face and the confusion over whether the caning would go ahead, and said it would reflect badly on Islam, which forbids drinking alcohol.

Kartika, who has lived in neighbouring Singapore for many years, had pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub.

Her case has caused a national sensation, and at her family's village more than 50 supporters turned out and chanted "God is Great" and "There is no God except Allah"

Alcohol is widely available in Malaysia but is forbidden for Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population. They can be fined, caned, or jailed for up to three years but prosecutions are extremely rare.

Malaysia, a multicultural country with large Chinese and Indian communities, has a dual-track legal system and sharia courts can try Muslims for religious and moral offences.

Islamic scholars have mostly backed the sentence, and said it would be carried out when Kartika was fully clothed and with a cane that is smaller and lighter than the heavy length of rattan used in criminal cases.

*Kartika Caning Changed To Community Service By Sultan on Next Post

The First Malaysian Women Weightlifter

Raihan makes history by winning bronze

WATCHING Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim achieved three gold medals feat at the Manchester Commonwealth Games on television eight years ago proved to be quite inspiring to Raihan Yusoff to take exercise.

And on Tuesday night at Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, Raihan carve her own piece of history by taking a bronze in the women’s 53kg class to become the first Malaysian woman to win weightlifting medal at the Commonwealth.

The 22-year-old Raihan has a total of 175kg to finish behind Canadian Maniou Prevost Dozois (182kg) and Nigerian Onyeka Azike (180kg).

This is the biggest international success to Raihan, who made her debut in the Commonwealth Games and she was happy  to have pushed open the boundaries for women’s weightlifting in Malaysia.

Raihan, who hails from Kota Baru, will not be compete in the Guangzhou Asian Games next month but she has  in view  the Indonesia SEA Games next year where she hopes to reach another high point in the sport.