Malaysian authorities said Wednesday that officials caned four Muslim men and, for the first time, three Muslim women this month after being found guilty of having sex out of wedlock.
A Shariah court last year sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, right, to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel bar. The sentence hasn't been carried out. For the first time, three Muslim women were caned this month after being found guilty of having sex out of wedlock.
The move to cane the women under the country's Islamic Shariah laws has raised fresh concerns about the growing political and judicial influence of Islam in what traditionally has been one of the world's more moderate Muslim nations.
The vibrant, resource-rich country came under intense international scrutiny last year after a Shariah court sentenced 32-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel bar. Many moderate Muslims and non-Muslim Malaysians saw that verdict as reflecting the growing reach of Islam in Malaysia over the past several years, although Prime Minister Najib Razak has said he won't let Malaysia drift toward becoming an Islamist state.
The caning of Ms. Kartika, who is a Muslim, still hasn't been carried out despite her requests to the Islamic courts to get it over with.
Wednesday's announcement that three Muslim women were caned on Feb. 9 for having illicit sex thus came as a shock to many Malaysians. "This was a big a surprise. We had no idea this was going to happen," said Ragunath Kesavan, president of the Malaysian Bar Council. "We were always told Ms. Kartika would be the first."
Severed boars' heads are found at a Kuala Lumpur mosque in January amid a dispute over the Christians' use of the word 'Allah.'
The Wall Street Journal,
By JAMES HOOKWAY
18/02/10
A Shariah court last year sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, right, to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel bar. The sentence hasn't been carried out. For the first time, three Muslim women were caned this month after being found guilty of having sex out of wedlock.
The move to cane the women under the country's Islamic Shariah laws has raised fresh concerns about the growing political and judicial influence of Islam in what traditionally has been one of the world's more moderate Muslim nations.
The vibrant, resource-rich country came under intense international scrutiny last year after a Shariah court sentenced 32-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel bar. Many moderate Muslims and non-Muslim Malaysians saw that verdict as reflecting the growing reach of Islam in Malaysia over the past several years, although Prime Minister Najib Razak has said he won't let Malaysia drift toward becoming an Islamist state.
The caning of Ms. Kartika, who is a Muslim, still hasn't been carried out despite her requests to the Islamic courts to get it over with.
Wednesday's announcement that three Muslim women were caned on Feb. 9 for having illicit sex thus came as a shock to many Malaysians. "This was a big a surprise. We had no idea this was going to happen," said Ragunath Kesavan, president of the Malaysian Bar Council. "We were always told Ms. Kartika would be the first."
Severed boars' heads are found at a Kuala Lumpur mosque in January amid a dispute over the Christians' use of the word 'Allah.'
The Wall Street Journal,
By JAMES HOOKWAY
18/02/10
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