tagged w/ Caning
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World Refugee Day is a great time to reflect upon the plight of refugees who seek safety and shelter in neighboring countries, such as Burmese refugees in Malaysia, yet instead they are denied the right to seek livelihood and safe, appropriate shelter, access health care, or receive education. Children, women, men and the elderly, including those who may be disabled, pregnant or ill, have been arrested, detained, sentenced, abused and trafficked inside Malaysia by government officials.World Refugee Day is a great time to reflect upon the plight of refugees who seek... more
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KOTA BHARU, Malaysia (Reuters) - The end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan this weekend could see Islamic authorities in Malaysia carry out the country's first caning sentence on a woman, a punishment that is fast gaining support.
Although the penalty has been condemned by rights groups and is being reviewed by an Islamic appeal court, it is endorsed by conservative Muslims whose influence is on the rise in this multi-racial, Southeast Asian country of 27 million people.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was caught drinking beer in a hotel and faces six strokes of the cane.
There are concerns the caning could damage Malaysia's image at a time when it is liberalizing its economy to attract more foreign investment. But for many people in Kelantan, a poor rural state, it is more important to see justice done.
"Her punishment is not severe, it will educate people. It will be a good lesson especially after Ramadan," said Runaidah Abdul Hamid, a housewife, as she bought vegetables to prepare for the breaking of the fast during Ramadan.
"Kartika will become more Muslim," said Rahayu Nizam Nawi, a vegetable seller in northern Kelantan's capital, Khota Bharu.
Kartika said she accepts the six strokes of the cane and has called for the sentence despite moves by the government, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, to review the punishment.
Malaysia practices a dual-track legal system, with Islamic criminal and family laws applicable only to Muslims, running alongside civil laws. If Kartika is caned, she will be fully clothed.
"CITY OF ISLAM"
Kelantan is ruled by the opposition Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and calls Kota Bharu "The City of Islam." The party has grown in influence since it joined an opposition grouping led by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.
In 2008 the three-party opposition Peoples Alliance inflicted the biggest ever electoral losses on the National Front government that has ruled Malaysia for 52 years, prompting the Front to replace its prime minister.
A party that advocates Islamic punishments now stands a chance of becoming part of any new government. Elections must be held by 2013 at the latest.
Since Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities deserted the governing National Front coalition, its ability to stay in power is being increasingly shaped by a battle to win the support of Malay Muslims, around 55 percent of the population.
That means the main government party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), cannot afford to offend conservative voters. In recent by-elections UMNO and PAS were seen arguing over which party was more true to Islam.
"Although Islam is adaptable to modernity, it will not be good when political parties are trying to outdo each other," said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng.
PAS in August demanded a full implementation of a rarely enforced alcohol ban for Muslims in the most developed Malaysian state of Selangor that it also helps to govern.
It also called for Danish pop group "Michael Learns to Rock" to be banned and Muslims were initially forbidden from attending a concert by U.S. hip hop group "The Black Eyed Peas" organized by brewer Guinness, which is owned by the world's biggest spirits group Diageo.
The flow of news headlines and blog comments has bruised Malaysia's image as a moderate Muslim state with some commentators highlighting what they see as undesirable Islamic influences in their own countries.
However, this foreign criticism cuts little ice in Kelantan.
"It does not matter what the outside world thinks, what matters is that Malaysia is an Islamic country which must practice Islamic laws," said Nur Manisah Hassim, a snacks vendor at a bustling market in Kota Bharu.KOTA BHARU, Malaysia (Reuters) - The end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan this... more
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A Malaysian Muslim woman who will be caned next week for drinking beer has defiantly asked that the punishment be carried out in public in a case that is fueling debate about tolerance in this multi-racial country.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno will be the first Malaysian woman to be caned under Islamic laws applicable to Malaysia's Muslims, who account for 60 percent of the 27-million population.
She said the 20-month ordeal added to her distress, but she respected the law banning alcohol for Muslims and was determined to go through with the punishment -- six strokes of the cane.
The mother of two, who also paid a 5,000 ringgit ($1,420) fine, asked for the punishment, usually carried out in a closed prison, to be done in public.
"I never cried when I was sentenced by the judge. I told myself, alright then, let's get on with it," Kartika, 32, told Reuters in an interview at her father's house in a rural Malay village, about 300 km (186 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur.
Islam is the official religion in this country that has a dual-track legal system, with Islamic criminal and family laws applicable to Muslims alongside civil legislation.
Opinions are divided about the punishment Kartika faces under Islamic laws some say are too severe and selectively enforced.
Amnesty International criticized on Friday the punishment as "degrading" and said the caning comes at a time when the role of Islam in Malaysia is assuming greater importance.
One of the main opposition parties wants Malaysia, which has ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who are not Muslim, to become an Islamic state with sharia laws on punishment.
Despite the prohibition, Muslims can be found consuming alcohol in bars and nightclubs openly in cities such as the capital, Kuala Lumpur, where attitudes are more relaxed.
Kartika, a Malaysian citizen married to a Singaporean, is a Singapore resident. Religious authorities caught her drinking at a hotel in Kuantan, the state capital of the central Malaysian state of Pahang, on December 11, 2007.
Kartika said she had three glasses of beer before the hotel was raided in what she said was her second time drinking alcohol. She and the other patrons were asked to provide urine samples.
Kartika, who said she has yet to receive any response to her request for a public caning, is due to be taken to prison in central Selangor state beginning on Monday for one week, during which her sentence will be carried out.
She will be fully clothed and kneeling and struck on the backside with a small thin cane using moderate force.
---click to read the whole story---A Malaysian Muslim woman who will be caned next week for drinking beer has defiantly... more
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blogs.myspace.com/natlnorml
Atlanta, GA: State Republican lawmaker Tommy Benton (31st House District) favors "caning" minor marijuana offenders and "executing" those who sell the drug, according to recent correspondences sent by the representative to two of his constituents.
In a July 29, 2009 e-mail to a constituent, Rep. Benton wrote: "Thanks for the email. We will have to agree to disagree on this and whether or not money is wasted (by mandating the state to prosecute minor marijuana offenders). I am opposed to the legalization of marijuana. I think we should go to caning for people caught using and maybe execute dealers. [emphasis NORML's] That would solve the problem as well. That is what they do in Singapore and they don't have a drug problem."
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of up to 24 violent lashes with a long rattan cane that has been soaked in water. The procedure inflicts intense pain and deep, bloody lacerations that can take several months to heal.
Rep. Benton followed up his remarks in a separate e-mail to another constituent on August 11, 2009, in which he threatened to turn over the names of citizens who disagreed with his political viewpoints to local law enforcement.
He wrote: "You and your cronies want it (marijuana) legalized so you can get a hit anytime without having to worry about getting arrested. I have forwarded your email to the Lowndes County sheriffs [sic] office so that they can be on the lookout for you. [emphasis NORML's] Consider this my last correspondence on the the [sic] subject to you or anyone else who shares your similar "conservative views'."
Benton was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2005.
Commenting on Rep. Benton's statements, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said: "It is shocking that an elected official would endorse such tortuous tactics against the tens of millions of Americans who engage in the responsible use of marijuana. But it is even more reprehensible that an elected official would use his political power to try to intimidate those who disagree with him. Such behavior is an affront to the very principles of democracy."
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director at: (202) 483-5500, or David Clark, Executive Director of Georgia NORML at: dclark@clarktowne.com.blogs.myspace.com/natlnorml
Atlanta, GA: State Republican lawmaker Tommy Benton... more
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