Digest on Malaysian News

Model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, who was scheduled to be caned this week for drinking beer, has been released temporarily as it is not advisable for the sentence to be meted out during the fasting month, said Pahang Exco member for Religious Affairs, Dakwah, Unity and NGOs Datuk Mohd Sahfri Abdul Aziz. "The sentence remains. She will be caned after the fasting month. She has been released but only temporarily," he said.




A Malaysian model, who was set to become the first woman caned in the southeast Asian country for drinking beer in public, was inexplicably spared her sentence Monday, her father said.

Authorities had picked up Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, from her father's house Monday morning and were taking her to a prison in the eastern state of Pahang when the van turned around and brought her back.

"They sent her back to the house. They said the top official asked them not to bring her to Kuala Lumpur," said Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib.

It was not immediately known whether authorities had dropped the sentence or postponed it. It was also not clear who had ordered Kartika returned.

"Now I am frightened and I am going to the police station to make a report," the father said. "I don't want them to say that Kartika ran away when they came here. I want them to know she was returned."

Kartika refused to get out of the van until her release had been confirmed in writing.

Authorities had picked up Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, from her father's house Monday morning and were taking her to a prison in the eastern state of Pahang when the van turned around and brought her back.

"They sent her back to the house. They said the top official asked them not to bring her to Kuala Lumpur," said Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib.

It was not immediately known whether authorities had dropped the sentence or postponed it. It was also not clear who had ordered Kartika returned.

"Now I am frightened and I am going to the police station to make a report," the father said. "I don't want them to say that Kartika ran away when they came here. I want them to know she was returned."

Kartika refused to get out of the van until her release had been confirmed in writing.

An Islamic, or sharia, court in the eastern state of Pahang had fined Kartika -- a Muslim -- $1,400 (5,000 Malaysian ringgit) and sentenced her to six strokes with a rattan cane for drinking at a hotel bar two years ago.

Kartika, a 32-year-old part-time model and mother of two, was visiting Malaysia from Singapore at the time.

She pleaded guilty, paid the fine, and wanted her caning to be carried out in public.

She said she lost her job as a nurse in Singapore and took up modeling to support her husband in raising their children. Her 7-year-old son has cerebral palsy; her 5-year-old daughter, a heart condition.

"I want to move on. This case has been hanging over me for a long time," she told CNN last week.

On Monday morning, Kartika hugged her children, bade a tearful goodbye to the throngs of people gathered at her father's house, and boarded the van. Video

She was to be taken to a prison on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. The caning would have been carried out within seven days after that, making her the first woman to be caned in Malaysia under sharia law.

Kartika's punishment is unique in that she has opted to go through with it. Two other Malaysians sentenced to the same fate have filed appeals, the Syariah (Sharia) Lawyers' Association of Malaysia said.

The case drew widespread attention and condemnation, in and outside Malaysia.

The moderate Muslim country has a dual-track justice system, in which Islamic courts operate alongside civil courts.

Muslims -- who make up about 60 percent of the 28 million who populate the country -- are forbidden from consuming alcohol. Other religious groups are exempt.

Though caning is used as a supplementary punishment in Malaysia for at least 40 crimes, such as rape or immigration violations, it is not meted out by Malaysia's civil court for alcohol consumption.

But the country's civil system also cannot overrule a sharia court sentence.

In that respect, Kartika would have been the first woman to be caned for violating the country's religious laws.

"Regardless of whether or not such penalties fall under sharia law or civil law, we believe that these should be repealed, as they go against the fundamental human right to be free from torture and violence," said Haslinah Yaacob, vice president for the All Women's Action Society.

CNN - Malaysia frees woman scheduled for caning

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