To Cane Or Not?

On July 12, 2007  32-year old part-time Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was arrested by Malaysia’s religious department officials at a night club.  Her offense?  Consuming alcohol in public.  She was charged in a Syariah court. She was fined 5,000 Ringgits and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane. She has paid the fine, and this week, she may well become the first person in Malaysia to be caned for consuming alcohol.

What do Muslim Malaysian women think about this?  Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was shocked at the ruling, calling it neither just nor fair punishment.  The opposition Islamic party, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) was surprised that whipping of women was sanctioned under Malaysian syariah law.

Now, on the eve of the public caning, controversy has broken out over this case.  Terengganu Chief Syariah Judge Datuk Ismail Yahya said that “her detention, and subsequently the whipping, is illegal.” Apparently prison rules state that a person to be whipped must be a prisoner.  Problem is that the original sentence did not include a prison stay.  So perhaps to try and rectify this, the state Syariah prosecutor asked for a warrant of arrest to detain her for a week.   To make matter worse, the same judge who passed the earlier sentence allowed the prosecutor’s request for a warrant of arrest for her.

The Syariah Court’s decision is being challenged by others.  It seems that the only ground to issue an arrest warrant is if she fails to pay the fine.  But she paid.  So the arrest warrant may be flawed.  Also some believe that the detention itself is also illegal.  It is like a second sentence for the same offense.

Think about it.  Willl Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno be caned after all these recent developments. Should a woman be caned in the first place?  Is the Terengganu Chief Syariah Judge Datuk Ismail Yahya correct in saying that her detention and the subsequent whipping is illegal? In the end, who is the final arbiter of whether Islamic Syariah laws are correctly applied?