By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani - The Malaysian Insider
Abim is now calling for Kartika’s caning to be expedited. — file pic
Mohd Isa Abdul Ralip, the president of the Association of Syarie Lawyers, said the successful caning of the three women demonstrated that such punishment under Islamic law was not cruel or inhumane.
The caning was conducted on Feb 9, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein disclosed yesterday. Two of them received six strokes while another one was given four.
“The sentencing has proven that caning is not unjust, inhumane or causes injuries. This also proves that Jakim and the Prisons Department are prepared and ready to implement Syariah criminal punishment.“The public and world community no longer needs to fear caning as a punishment under the Syariah because it is not cruel but instead educates the offenders. It also provides awareness and teaches the offenders to repent and not repeat the acts,” he said in a press statement today.
The announcement that the three women had been caned comes amid a continuing controversy over a similar sentence imposed last year on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor for consuming beer.
Government officials, hoping to avoid any criticism, had asked her to appeal the sentence. She refused, and instead, asked for the caning to be expedited.
Faced with domestic and foreign criticisms and fearful of the effect the caning of a woman would have on Malaysia’s image as a moderate Muslim country, officials continued to delay carrying out the sentence.
Recently, religious officials in Pahang, where Kartika was sentenced, said the caning issue would only be decided after she has an audience with the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
But Mohd Isa urged the authorities today to now go ahead with Kartika’s caning as the penalty has now been meted out on three other women.
“We fully support Kartika’s caning punishment to be expedited so as to avoid it from becoming sensationalised and causing many to look down on the institution of the Syariah courts,” he added.
The Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) also questioned why advocacy groups were outraged by the caning of the three women.
“This is concrete proof that the punishment went well and has been accepted. The guilty has also repented and there is no proof of any injuries at all. What is the problem now? It has proven that the punishment can save cost and the person does not have to stay in jail for a long period. You get your caning sentence then you can go out and continue with your life. So what is the problem?” Abim vice president Fadhilina Sidek said today.
She also contended that those who argued that the caning of women was unconstitutional were ignorant.
“They say that it goes against the constitution because there is gender discrimination and equality before the law. For me, they don’t want to know and pretend to not know. If they really want to understand then they can ask and we are willing to explain to them. But they did not want to understand from the beginning,” she said.
However, Malaysian Human Rights Association president Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said he believed that the caning was outside the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts.
He said the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 — which confers powers on the Syariah courts — does not authorise caning of the kind dictated by Islamic law.
Under prison rules, only those who are serving a sentence can be caned. But civil law does not allow caning for women while only men below 50 can receive the punishment.
In carrying out the caning sentences, the country’s prison authorities have now demonstrated their willingness to carry out caning sentences on women if ordered to do so by a Syariah court.
Advocacy groups are now demanding that the government explain why the three Muslim women were caned recently without public knowledge.
Amnesty International’s Nora Murat said that the government should have been forthright about the caning of the women.
“I think that there shouldn’t be any secrecy about it and there are also a lot of questions on why they were punished. I am angry because the government has not been honest with the whole process. We should be honest about it. There are a lot of grey areas and question marks when it comes to all the Syariah issue and process,” she told The Malaysian Insider.
The executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia said that the country had taken a “regressive step” with the punishment.
“Although it was stated that the Syariah authority was there to witness the caning, it still doesn’t take away the fact that it is a degrading punishment to humiliate the person.
“Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that the caning has to be done in public but why was the whole process done in secrecy? That itself brings a lot of questions on the legal and punishment process in this country. We are questioning that. I think Malaysia is taking a regressive step to inflict such degrading treatment. We have been portrayed and promoted ourselves as a moderate country and why on earth are we [using] punishment from the Dark Ages,” she said.
The three women offenders, together with four men, had been sentenced to whipping under section 23 (2) of the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Syariah Criminal Offences Act 1997 (Adultery) by the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court between December 2009 and January this year.
Executive director of Women’s Aid Organisation, Ivy Josiah, was angry that the government had allowed the canning after the public outcry against a similar sentenced imposed last year on Kartika for consuming beer.
“We are really angry that this whole exercise was done in the face of so many memorandums, appeals, arguments against the whipping and sentencing of Kartika.
“So the authorities obviously knew what society wanted but to completely ignore all of these arguments is sheer disrespectful,” Josiah said.
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