Malaysia: Plan to cane model criticised

Human rights group Amnesty International today denounced plans by Malaysian authorities to cane a Muslim model for drinking beer.

The woman, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, insists she is ready to be lashed six times with a rattan cane next week for breaching the Muslim-majority country’s Shariah law, which forbids Muslims to consume alcohol.

Kartika was arrested in a raid for drinking alcohol at a hotel lounge last year and sentenced to caning by a Shariah court in July in what was considered a warning to other Muslims to abide by religious laws.

Nora Murat, executive director of Amnesty International’s Malaysian branch, today urged authorities to “immediately revoke the sentence to cane her and abolish the practice of caning altogether”.