Malaysian Woman Caning Sentence Upheld

Well now it is unanimous. The judge, her father and the convicted woman all agree that she should be caned in the name of Islam. Just for drinking a beer.


Sharia is spreading and the sooner the non-Muslim world realizes that "moderate" Islam is not coming to the rescue, the better. Sharia in non-Muslim countries should not even be considered. It must be fought at all costs.

Malaysia caning sentence upheld

A Malaysian Islamic court has upheld the caning sentence for a Muslim woman convicted of drinking beer at a hotel, local media reports have said.

If the punishment is carried out, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, will become the first Muslim woman to be caned in the country.

She had originally been due to be caned late last month, but at the last minute the sentence was put on hold during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

At the time the government asked the Sharia High Court Appeals Panel in Kuantan, the capital of the eastern state of Pahang, to review the verdict.

But late on Monday a chief judge with the court announced that the sentence would be upheld.

Reacting to the news Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttlib, said that while the family had yet to be informed of the court's decision, his daughter "accepts the punishment" and would like it to be carried out as soon as possible.

"We obey the law [and] it's a challenge ... [but] it's the way of my life," he told the Associated Press.

No date has yet been set for the caning.

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Malaysia Muslim Protest Derails Hindu Temple Plan

Besides recently banning all Muslims from attending a Black Eyed Peas concert, the government of Malaysia once again shows us how "tolerant" they are.

Sep 6, 2009
Malaysia Muslim protest derails Hindu temple plan
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

A Malaysian state government searched for a new site for a Hindu temple Sunday, bowing to pressure from Muslim residents who staged a gruesome protest against its planned construction that triggered debate about religious intolerance.

Authorities in central Selangor state tried to reach a compromise in talks Saturday with residents of the Muslim-majority neighborhood in the state capital, Shah Alam, where the temple was to be built. The meeting descended into chaos when protesters shouted insults at Selangor Chief Minister Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and other lawmakers, according to a video of the meeting posted on Malaysiakini, an independent news Web site.

The protesters insist the temple would be too close to their homes and could generate excessive noise and traffic, which would disrupt their concentration during Muslim prayers.

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No Muslims at Malaysia Black Eyed Peas Concert

Not only have the Malaysian authorities been cracking down on beer drinkers and Christians. They have now banned all Muslims from attending a Black Eyed Peas concert. Yep, this is more proof that "moderate" Islam is coming to save the day.

No Muslims at Malaysia Black Eyed Peas concert

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Muslims in Malaysia have been barred from attending a concert by U.S. hip hop band the Black Eyed Peas sponsored by Guinness which is owned by the world's biggest spirits group Diageo.

The move comes after a Malaysian Islamic court sentenced a 32-year Muslim woman to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel and at a time when an opposition Islamic party has moved against beer sales.

The concert, part of celebrations of Guinness 250th birthday, asks on its website (www.arthursday.com.my) "Are you a non-Muslim aged 18 years and above?" and if the response is no, access is not allowed>.

Muslims account for 55 percent of the 27 million people in this Southeast Asian country and are barred from consuming alcohol although the rules are regularly flouted, especially in big cities like the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's Guinness Anchor which sells Guinness and other brands here had sales of 1.2 billion Malaysian ringgit (210 million pounds) in 2008.

Even without alcohol, foreign bands are subject to scrutiny. Earlier this week, the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) said it wanted Danish band Michael Learns to Rock banned from performing as it would cause immorality.

Since 2007, PAS, the country's second largest political group measured by party membership, has campaigned against performances by the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne.

(Reporting by David Chance; editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Father Wants Public Caning for Malay Woman Over Beer

Yesterday I posted an article about the woman in Malaysia who is going to be caned for drinking alcohol. She is more than willing to accept the punish in order to educate Muslims.

"I accept the punishment," she said. "I am not afraid because I was ready to be punished from day one. [The authorities] hope to use my case as a way to educate Muslims. So go ahead. I want to move on with my life."

Today we learn that her father not only agrees with her getting caned, but he wants it done in a public display. What a guy.

Father Wants Public Caning for Malay Woman Over Beer
By Ranjeetha Pakiam

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The caning of a Malaysian mother for drinking a beer should be conducted in public if it is meant to set an example to fellow Muslims, her father said, days before the punishment is set to be carried out in a closed prison.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, faces six strokes of the cane after a Shariah court found the former model guilty of breaking a law that forbids all Muslims, including foreign visitors, from drinking alcohol. After deciding not to appeal, she may become the first woman to be caned in Malaysia.

The Shariah court in the eastern state of Pahang Kartika fixed Aug. 24 to 30 for the Prisons Department to conduct the sentence, said Mohamad Isa Abd Ralip, president of the Syariah Lawyers Association of Malaysia. Kartika will be held for a week at the women’s prison in Kajang outside Kuala Lumpur, a decision that has puzzled her father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib.

“As a Muslim, I agree with her punishment, but I don’t agree that it should be done in jail, she is not a prisoner,” Shukarno, 60, told Bloomberg in an interview. “If the authorities want to use this as an example, then the caning should be done in public in Pahang.”

The businessman said it was embarrassing for his daughter to be brought to prison where criminals are held. If there was no alternative, Shukarno said he would ask the authorities to allow him and the media to attend the caning to ensure transparency.

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Model who Drank Beer to be First Woman Caned in Malaysia

In approximately one week a woman in Malaysia will be caned for drinking a lousy beer. So this makes me curious. Is this part of the "moderate" Islamic movement that the world is so desperately waiting for? Or how about the nine Christians that were recently arrested in Malaysia for allegedly trying to convert Muslims?

Please face the reality guys, "moderate" Islam is not coming to the rescue.

Model who drank beer to be first woman caned in Malaysia
Muslim model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno has become the first woman in Malaysia to be sentenced to a caning after being caught drinking beer in a beach resort.
By Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok

The 32-year-old will receive six lashes at a woman's prison next week in what is being viewed as an example of the growing influence of Islamic hardliners on the country.

The mother-of-two who lives in Singapore with her husband, paid a fine of £860, but declined to lodge an appeal so she could get the punishment over with and put the episode behind her.

The harsh sentence has provoked anger among women's rights groups who fear it is another sign of the creeping influence of conservative Islam on Malaysian society.

In the northern backwater state of Kalentan ruled by the hardline Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, authorities have decreed that supermarkets must have separate checkout queues for men and women and beaches be segregated.

Young couples caught sitting too close together on park benches in the state capital, Kota Baru, are hunted down by the city's moral enforcers and fined up to £285 in Sharia courts.

The Islamic alcohol prohibition laws in Malaysia's eastern Pahang state date back more than two decades. But Malaysian-born Kartika, who now has Singaporean citizenship, is the first woman to fall foul of them.

She was arrested in July last year in a hotel nightclub in the beach resort of Cherating during a raid by the state's religious department and admitted drinking beer.

An Islamic court fined her and ordered her to be caned at Kajang women's prison next week, but spared her a jail term of up to three years.

She received word of the sentence from her father and said she would be returning to Malaysia from Singapore.

"I accept the punishment," she said. "I am not afraid because I was ready to be punished from day one. [The authorities] hope to use my case as a way to educate Muslims. So go ahead. I want to move on with my life."

Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said: "This is the first case in Malaysia. It is a good punishment because under Islamic law a person who drinks commits a serious offence."

Muslims make up about 60 per cent of Malaysia's 28 million people and are governed by Sharia courts for all civil and religious matters.

Non-Muslims, mainly Chinese and Indians, are governed by civil courts, which impose caning sentences for serious offences such as rape. The lashes administered to the buttocks, break the skin and leave scars.

But in Kartika's case the rattan cane will be lighter than those used to punish men. Sharia law dictates it be no thicker than the little finger and the cane cannot be lifted so high the arm is away from the armpit. The court ordered the jail's female governor administer the sentence.

Kartika has been ordered to report to the jail next Monday, where she will be given a medical check-up to ensure she is fit to receive the punishment.

She could then be held for seven days, but will be released immediately after the caning.

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Malaysia Arrests 9 Christians on Conversion Claim

As the West desperately waits for some form of "moderate" Islam to surface and come to the rescue, the persecution of non-Muslims continues

Malaysia arrests 9 Christians on conversion claim

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian police have arrested nine Christians accused of trying to convert Muslim university students — a serious crime punishable by prison in this Muslim-majority country, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The suspects have denied the allegation, which could aggravate complaints by religious minorities that authorities are increasingly ignoring their rights in favor of Islam.

Proselytizing of Muslims by members of other religions is forbidden in Malaysia, though the reverse is allowed. Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people, are also not legally permitted to change religion.

Police detained the nine in a hostel room at the Universiti Putra Malaysia near Kuala Lumpur late Tuesday, said Annou Xavier, a lawyer who handles cases involving religion. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone from the police station where the nine are being held.

They claimed they were visiting friends, but a Muslim student apparently filed a police complaint accusing them of trying to convert Muslims, Xavier said.
"These allegations are baseless and untrue," Xavier said.

The identities of the nine were not immediately clear. The Malaysian Insider independent news Web site said they were students belonging to a Malaysian Christian organization.

Zahedi Ayob, the police chief of Sepang district near Kuala Lumpur, said he could not immediately confirm the arrests.

Cases of non-Muslims preaching to Muslims are rare in Malaysia. Penalties differ for various states, but most provide for prison terms of at least two years. One northern state also prescribes a punishment of six lashes with a rattan cane.

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Malaysia:Christian Paper not Allowed to use the Word Allah

As usual when Muslims complain about what offends them, they get their way. This time they were upset that a Catholic newspaper had been using the word "Allah" in reference to God. In response the Malaysian government has ordered the paper not to print the word "Allah" anymore. Actually this comes as no surprise as this is the same country that in 2003 banned 13 Christian books because they were considered detrimental to public peace.

Malaysian authorities bow to Muslim pressure over ‘Allah’ in Catholic weekly

Rome, Italy, Mar 3, 2009 (CNA).- Malaysia’s Ministry of the Interior has flip-flopped on granting permission to a Catholic newspaper to use the word "Allah" in reference to God in its publications. Although news reports indicated that the publication would be allowed to use "Allah," government officials are denying that permission was ever given.

The national Bernama news agency is reporting that Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar has retracted a Feb. 16 decree allowing Christian publications to use the word as long as they specified the material was not for Muslims.

The government bowed to threats from Islamic groups, who harshly criticized the government for granting permission and warned that even conditional use of "Allah" would stoke Muslim fury.

At the center of the controversy is the Catholic weekly, The Herald, the country’s only Catholic publication. Several months ago, the Home Affairs Ministry revoked the weekly’s publication license for using the term, which the Ministry had said was only permitted for Muslim use.

Father Lawrence Andrew, the director of the Herald, told the Associated Press that, "Unfortunately the apparent relief that we imagined we were able to enjoy has been short-lived."

According to Fr. Andrew, "in the local Malaysian language, there is no other term besides Allah to refer to God."

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