Whipping judge hands out 2nd caning for drinking

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 – The Syariah court judge who sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to be caned for drinking beer has served up a similar punishment on an Indonesian man for consuming alcohol, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The New Straits Times said that Nazarudin Kamaruddin, 46, had become the first person to be caned for consuming alcohol in Pahang state in central Malaysia.

Judge Abdul Rahman Mohd Yunos triggered criticism from rights groups and concerns over the growing influence of tough Islamic punishments in Malaysia when he sentenced Kartika, a 32-year-old mother of two, to caning for consuming beer.

“The sentence meted out to him (Nazarudin) is not meant as punishment but to serve as a lesson,” Rahman said, according to the paper.

Kartika’s case is being reviewed by an Islamic appeals court judge and her caning could be carried out once the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is over.

Pahang is the home state of Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who has pledged to modernise the economy of this country of 27 million people and to win new foreign investment. – Reuters