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Agence France-Presse - 8/24/2009 6:01 AM GMT

Beer-drinking Muslim model wins caning reprieve

A Muslim model who was sentenced to be caned for drinking beer won a surprise reprieve Monday when she was abruptly released after being detained by Malaysian religious officials.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was last month sentenced by a religious court to six strokes, making her the first woman to face caning under Islamic law in Malaysia, a moderate Muslim-majority country.

She was taken into custody Monday from her family home in northern Perak state by three religious officials who were to transport her to a jail outside Kuala Lumpur where the sentence was to be carried out.

But after moving a short distance, the vehicle halted for almost an hour and then returned.
"I am unable to execute the warrant of arrest and the court order at this moment," Sharifuddin Zainal Ariffin, enforcement chief from the Islamic department in Pahang state told her family.
Sharifuddin said his orders had come from "higher authorities" and that Kartika was officially released from their custody, but was not able to say whether the sentence could be carried out later.

"I am speechless," said Kartika, who initially refused to get out of the van. "I want to know what my status is. I want a black and white statement from them," she told reporters.

Kartika, who has refused to appeal against her sentence and challenged authorities to cane her in public, went to a police station to lodge a report, saying she wanted to make it clear she had not evaded detention.

Her father, Shukarno Mutalib, 60, reacted angrily to the about-face and said it could reflect badly on Islam, which forbids drinking alcohol.

"My daughter wants the sentence to be done. I'm afraid that people will make fun of the religion," he said. "Don't make my daughter a toy to play with."

The part-time model and mother of two, who lives in neighbouring Singapore, had pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub.

Her case has caused a national sensation, and at her family's village more than 50 supporters turned out and chanted "God is Great" and "There is no God except Allah."

Before being taken into custody, Kartika emerged red-eyed but smiling from her parents' home, wearing a purple headscarf with a floral baju kurung, a flowing traditional outfit worn by many Muslim women in Malaysia.

"I am calm. God willing I hope this caning punishment will be realised. It will be a deterrent to Muslims, I am ready to accept the caning. I have already repented," she said.

Neighbours rallied round to give her their support.

"I have known Kartika since she was a small girl," said one 64-year-old villager, Wan Alawiah.
"She is a good girl and I'm sad she will be caned but I ask myself why Kartika is being caned when a lot of other Muslims drink. I feel she has been victimised," she said.

Alcohol is widely available in Malaysia but is theoretically forbidden for Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population. They can be fined, caned, or jailed for up to three years but prosecutions are extremely rare.

Malaysia, a multicultural country with large Chinese and Indian communities, has a dual-track legal system and sharia courts can try Muslims for religious and moral offences.

Islamic scholars have mostly backed the sentence, and said it would be carried out when Kartika was fully clothed and with a cane that is smaller and lighter than the heavy length of rattan used in criminal cases.

However, the chief sharia judge of neighbouring Terengganu state has reportedly expressed doubt over the way the unusual case was handled, and warned Kartika could have grounds for a lawsuit.

Human rights group Amnesty International has urged Malaysia not to carry out the sentence and to abolish the "cruel and degrading punishment."