Recent Comments

Lawyer Says Saudi Man Who Boasted About His Sex Life On TV Wins Appeal

 Update On Mazen Abdul Jawad

Remember Mazen Abdul Jawad, the Saudi divorcee with 4 children who worked for an airline?  He became famous, or rather infamous, after appearing on the Bold (or Thick) Red Line program aired by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) in conservative Saudi Arabia.  In it he boasted about his various sexual escapades. He spoke of [...]

Iranian Woman Facing Death By Stoning

Save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Plea

“Please help end this nightmare and do not let it turn into a reality. Help us save our mother!” cried Iranian Farideh, 16, and her brother Sajad, 20, as they pleaded to the international community to save their mother – 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani – from stoning.

Death By Stoning And Hanging

Sakineh Mohammadi [...]

Kartika Caning Case - Prof Says Judgment Was A Human Enactment Camouflaged As Sharia

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno Finally Opens Up

Remember Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, the Malaysian model who was charged with  consuming alcohol in Pahang and who was sentenced to a fine and 6 lashes of the cane by the Syariah High Court?  Her case attracted widespread attention, and she would have been the first woman to be caned in [...]

Child Marriages In Afghanistan

Lashings for Child Brides Trying To Escape From Their Marriages

Two adolescent Afghan girls who had been forced into marriages with elderly men ran away disguised as boys because their husbands beat them when they tried to resist consummation of their marriages. However, after two days of fleeing across rough roads and mountain passes, Khadija Rasoul, aged [...]

Kartika Caning Case - Freedom At Last

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno Now A Free Woman

Thursday April 22, 2010 is a very special day for former Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno.  On this day, she completed her 3-week community service at the Tengku Ampuan Fatimah Children Home, walked out of the gate, and became a free woman.  This brings an end to the whole saga [...]

Kartika Caning – Nobody Should Dispute Ruler’s Decision

One would have expected that the decision by the Sultan of Pahang to commute the caning sentence of 6 lashes of the cane on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to a 3-week community service at a children’s home would be welcome by all. Instead, that decision disappointed the folks at the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association (PPPM) which [...]

Kartika Caning - Changed To Community Service By Sultan

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was to be caned with six lashes on Thursday, April 1, 2010.  But there was no caning.  No folks, this is no April Fool’s Day joke.  On Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno received a letter from the Sultan of Pahang commuting the caning sentence to a 3-week community service punishment.

Shukarno [...]

Sisters In Islam Attacked For Not Being Islamic

Sisters In Islam (SIS) is one of Malaysia’s best known NGOs. It is a women’s advocacy group, and from its name, it is assumed to be a Muslim NGO championing the rights of Muslim women.  Or is it?  Now other Muslim activists have filed a suit against Sisters In Islam, accusing it of not being Islamic and [...]

Marina Mahathir – There Is Room For Courage

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir is a well known personality in Malaysia.  On her blog she describes herself, inter-alia, as a “general nuisance” who occasionally “irritates some people by going on about feminism and Islam”.  And now she may have just proven herself right when The Star newspaper pulled an article that she has written.  But Marina [...]

Kartika Caning – “Don’t Leave Me In Limbo”

It has been a long while since we last got any update on the caning case of Malaysia model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno.  As a reminder, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was caught drinking alcohol and a Syariah court in Malaysia subsequently ordered that she be sentenced to a fine (which she paid) and 6 strokes of [...]