Anonymous_X: Malaysia tak boleh: Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a Singaporean (?) model, to be caned for having a beer...

The name of the Singaporean model is unclear. In one news it's "Kartika Sari Sewi Shu-karno" and in another it's "Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno". A further confusion is about her nationality. One source stated she's a Singaporean and another claimed that she is a Singapore Permanent Resident (which may imply, but not specifically mentioned, that she is a Malaysian). Update: She is Malaysian!

The important thing, though, is that the punishment is harsh and yet it can be avoided if only one pays attention (and respect) to other countries' rules & regulations. At least, when one is being present there.

A 32-year-old part-time model from Singapore charged with having a beer in a nightclub last year was ordered by the Syariah High Court yesterday to receive six strokes of the rotan.

Kartika Sari Sewi Shu-karno, who pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in public when she made her first court appearance in December, was also fined RM5,000 (S$2038.50).

The model, who wore a blue baju kurung and black headscarf, kept her head down and was silent as judge Datuk Abdul Rahman Yunus read out the sentence. He said the accused could face a three-year jail term if she could not pay the fine while the rotan would be carried out by federal prison authorities.

He said the sentence was under Section 136 of the Pahang Islamic and Malay Traditional Practices Enactment 1982 (amendment 1987).

"The court reached the judgment after the accused pleaded guilty. We feel the sentence is fair after going through the prosecution's argument and since the rotan is provided for in the law.

"The rotan is aimed at making the accused repent and serves as a lesson to Muslims."

Kartika committed the offence at a hotel night club in Cherating and was arrested during a raid by a team from the state religious department at 1.20am on July 12, 2007.

Her lawyer Mohd Zuki Che Muhamad Ghani said he would file an application for a stay of execution pending an appeal.

This is the second time the Syariah Court here has imposed whipping on a female. The first was on a waitress and a man who were caught together with Kartika during the same operation in Cherating.

The 38-year-old from Kemaman, Terengganu, and the 22-year-old waitress from Selangor were also fined RM5,000 each and ordered to receive six strokes of the rotan.

However, the whipping has yet to be carried out in these cases which are pending appeal.

The sentence for consuming alcohol was made stiffer when the Islamic Religious Administration and Pahang Malay Tradition Enactment 1982 was amended in 1987.

Under Section 136 of the enactment, those who are found guilty can be fined up to RM5,000 or jailed a maximum of three years, or both, and sentenced to six strokes of the rotan.

From Asiaone, "Singaporean model gets rotan for having a beer".

A religious court has sentenced a Muslim woman to six strokes of the cane for drinking alcohol, possibly for the first time in Malaysia.

The Syariah High Court in Pahang also handed the same sentence to a man on Monday, and is due to make a decision on another woman in May.

Mohamad Nasir Mohamad, 38, a father of four, and waitress Noorazah Baharuddin, 22, were found drinking beer separately in pubs in July last year in central Pahang state, said reports released yesterday.

Nasir admitted that he had drunk beer at a pub in Cherating on July 11, while Noorazah was caught drinking at the pub where she worked, in Jalan Gambut.

Both were also fined RM5,000 (S$2,100) each by the Pahang court on Monday.

The third accused was part-time model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32. According to the New Straits Times, Kartika, a Singapore permanent resident, could not attend court as she is studying in Singapore.

Judge Abdul Rahman Yunus said that he had given the maximum fine and caning as a deterrent to other Muslims, but had spared them a jail sentence.

'The caning is to shame them and should be done at any of the prisons in the country,' he was quoted as saying by NST.

The case comes after two controversial fatwas, or edicts - one over tomboyish behaviour by women and the other concerning the practice of yoga - sparked intense public debate over decisions made by the country's top religious body.

Malaysia has a two-track legal system, with the civil courts operating alongside state-based syariah courts. Muslims are governed by syariah laws in family and personal matters, while ethnic Chinese, Indians and other races come under civil courts.

According to NST, this is the second time such a sentence has been handed down. In 2005, the same judge sentenced two Muslim brothers to six strokes of the cane after they were caught drinking.

However, the caning has yet to be carried out as the men are appealing against the decision.

Alcohol is widely available in Malaysia, and Muslims are rarely punished for consuming it.

'It's rare but it's within the law and Muslims are subject to such law in this country,' said lawyer Pawancheek Merican, a syariah law committee member of the Malaysian Bar Council.

MP Salahuddin Ayub, the youth chief of the opposition Islamic party PAS, said he 'agreed' with the court ruling.

'The ruling only concerns Muslims and it does not affect the non-Muslims. It is to remind the Muslims not to drink,' he said.

From Straits Times, "6 strokes for drinking".

Update: This other news has confirmed that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor (Shukarnor? Yet another variant?) is a Malaysian.

The Syariah High Court here has fined a model RM5,000 fine and ordered her whipped six times after she pleaded guilty to consuming an alcoholic drink in public last year.

Syariah Judge Abdul Rahman Yunus said Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor, 32, from Sungai Siput in Perak would be imprisoned three years if she failed to pay the fine.

Kartika was accused of consuming beer at the Cherating Bay Lounge of the Legend Hotel in Cherating at 11.40pm on July 11.

She was charged under Section 136 of the Pahang Administration of the Islam Law and Malay Custom Enactment.

The accused, who cried when the judgement was delivered, said she would appeal.

From The Star Online, "Model fined and ordered whipped for drinking beer".

Update on 23/07: I can understand why the model will prefer having her punishment meted out sooner. Enough of unnecessary controversy & after all, she does need more time to heal. Logic.

But what I learn about the latest article is that her case is the first that involves caning under Malaysia's Islamic Law. Would it be the last? Well, anybody cares to consume alcohol in public to test the theory? No, you don't have to be a model, I believe...

A Malaysian model who was ordered to be caned by a Pahang syariah court for consuming alcohol in public wants the court to expedite the sentence, which has stirred up a controversy.

If her sentence is meted out soon, it could be the first time that a man or a woman is caned under Malaysia's Islamic law.

According to news reports Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor accepts the punishments and wants it to be over as soon as possible.

"I will accept this earthly punishment. Let Allah decide my punishment in the hereafter ... For now, the court has yet to tell me when the sentence will be carried out, so I would like to ask them to hasten it."

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil expressed shock at the ruling while another woman MP from the Islamic party, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), said she was surprised that whipping of women was sanctioned under Malaysian syariah law.

According to news reports, Islamic lawyers disagree.

"We feel the sentence is fair after going through the prosecution's argument and since the rotan (cane) is provided for in the law," Pahang Sharia High Court judge Abdul Rahman Yunus said, according to the paper."

"The rotan is aimed at making the accused repent and serves as a lesson to Muslims," he added, also fining Kartika RM5,000 (S$2,040)"

The 32-year-old part-time model, a Singapore permanent resident, was charged with having a beer in a nightclub last year and was ordered by the Syariah High Court to receive six strokes of the rotan.

Kartika Sari Sewi Shu-karno, pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in public when she made her first court appearance in December.

From Asiaone, "Model: Please hasten punishment".

Update on 26/07: It's good to learn that even in Malaysia, the case has caused some debates. By stoically accepting her punishment, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno might have been a martyr to a group of people who believe that "when the sin is between her and God, there is always an option of being repentant as it's up to God to decide on her faith, and not people." Well said indeed.

An Islamic court's decision to have a Muslim model whipped for drinking beer at a pub has triggered controversy in Malaysia, a multicultural country where such convictions are extremely rare.

Last week, a Sharia or religious court sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit (S$2,037) after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in eastern Pahang state last year.

Her conviction created a furore in the nation which is predominantly Muslim, but also home to large Indian and Chinese minorities. Alcohol is widely available in most parts of the country and Muslims are rarely punished for consuming it.

'The punishment of whipping is defined as torture and hence we should not in any way condone it,' said Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Nora Murat.

'This is the wrong way to educate anyone about the religion. When the sin is between her and God, there is always an option of being repentant. It's up to God to decide on her faith, and not people,' she told AFP.

Most were stunned that whipping of women was permitted in Malaysia's Islamic courts, which operate alongside civil courts under a dual-track system.

'It's not just unkind, it's unjust,' leading women rights activist Ivy Josiah told the New Straits Times newspaper, while Women's Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil reportedly said that while she did not approve of Muslims drinking, she was shocked by the ruling.

Islamic scholars however argued the punishment was necessary to deter other Muslims from drinking.

Harussani Zakaria, an influential mufti or religious scholar, said the punishment was 'very lenient' as Islamic law allows for up to 40 strokes of the cane for any Muslim caught drinking.

'The (punishment) meted out on her is just to shame her and educate her. The judge is doing the right thing,' said the mufti.

Urging other judges to hand down similar judgements in future, he said a fine was no longer effective in deterring Muslims from drinking alcohol, which is forbidden under the religion.

'The cane to be used in this case is not the same as in prison and they will be fully dressed (when being caned), because it's meant to shame them. Even if a person is caned 40 times, it won't cause death,' Harussani said.

Experts said it was unclear whether such a sentence had been carried out before, and there has been much discussion over who should carry it out, and how.

In the civil courts, where caning is a common penalty for serious crimes including rape, it is carried out with a long, thick length of rattan which causes intense pain, breaks open the skin and leaves lasting scars.

However, the cane to be used on Kartika will reportedly be less than four feet long and half an inch thick, and the blow is not administered on the bare skin.

The person wielding the cane is banned from lifting it above their head, so the force of the blow is not as hard.

Even as the debate raged, Kartika reportedly said she would not appeal and wanted to 'hasten' the punishment so she could get on with her life.

'I will accept this earthly punishment, let Allah decide my punishment in the hereafter,' said the mother of two, who has been living in neighbouring Singapore for 15 years after marrying a citizen of the city-state, according to the New Straits Times.

'I want to advise youngsters to learn from my experience and not cause shame to themselves and their families,' she added.