THE TELEGRAPH: A Muslim model has asked human rights group Amnesty International to stop asking the Malaysian authorities not to cane her, saying she is ready to face the penalty for drinking beer.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, insisted she is willing to be lashed six times with a rattan cane next week for breaching the country's Shariah law, which forbids Muslims to consume alcohol.
"I want to respect the law," Kartika said from her northern home state of Perak. "Who am I to question the Islamic authorities' laws? That is beyond me.
"I never cried when I was sentenced by the judge. I told myself, alright then, let's get on with it."
Kartika is to become the first Malaysian woman to be caned in prison after she was arrested in a raid for drinking beer at a hotel lounge last year and sentenced by a Shariah court in July in what was considered a warning to other Muslims to abide by religious laws.
Amnesty International earlier urged authorities to "immediately revoke the sentence to cane her and abolish the practice of caning altogether."
"Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is prohibited under international human rights law," it said in a statement.
Government lawyer Saiful Idham Sahimi said earlier this week the penalty was appropriate because drinking was a serious offence for Muslims.
Islamic authorities insist that the purpose of the caning is to educate rather than punish. They say the rattan cane to be used on Kartika will be smaller and lighter than the one used for men and that she will remain clothed. The prison official who canes her is also supposed to use very little force.
Men convicted of civil crimes such as rape and bribery in Malaysia are caned on their bare buttocks, breaking the skin and leaving permanent scars. >>> | Friday, August 21, 2009
