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Moderate Malaysia's image bruised over beer caning
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-27 10:38 But officials turned back 30 minutes later and Kartika was brought home. At first, officials said the sentencing was being suspended on compassionate grounds until the end of the holy month of Ramadan. However, it emerged later that the chief judge of the Shariah court put the caning on hold indefinitely pending a review. If it is carried out, the caning would be done with a thin stick and would be largely symbolic rather than aimed at causing pain. But activists say it raises the broader question of whether such Islamic laws should intrude into Muslims' private lives. "These types of punishments are in the books. Whether they are used or not is something else," Marina said, noting that many Muslim women do drink in Malaysia. "It is really between men and God. That's how it should be. The Quran is clear that alcohol is prohibited but it does not impose a punishment."
Muddying the issue further, only three states in Malaysia - Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan - impose caning for drinking alcohol. In the other 10 states it is punishable by a fine. Maria Chin Abdullah, the executive director of the women's group Empower, says much of the legal confusion results from the government's reluctance to make it clear that federal civil laws carry more weight than Shariah laws for fear of offending Muslim voters. "They (the government) have to intervene. Otherwise Kartika will not be the only case. If you don't clear this issue of jurisdiction then we will keep on having cases like this. We will constantly be battling between Shariah and civil laws," she said. Malaysia's ruling coalition, the National Front, is dominated by the United Malays National Organization, a party made up exclusively of Malay Muslims of all types - conservative, liberal and middle-of-the-road. The Front narrowly won general elections in 2008, but it was its worst performance after five decades of political dominance since Malaysia won independence in 1957. With its support dwindling, UMNO is reluctant to upset any of its constituents by taking a stand on the issue, either for Kartika or for the Shariah courts. UMNO is also trying to woo supporters of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, who are mainly conservative rural Malays. Top PAS officials have called for Kartika's caning to be carried out. The party's youth chief, Nasrudin Hassan, said that if the sentence is revoked, it might make the Shariah courts seem "inconsistent or powerless."
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